Two Princes
by Wedjatqi
Summary: Trapped in Pegasus with no way to get back home, John is faced with the prospect of spending the rest of his life there and has to come to terms with living among the Athosians, but one of them is not happy about him being there. JT, Post S5 COMPLETE
1. Springtime

**Chapter:** 1 - Springtime

**Rating**: M

**Disclaimers**: I make no profit from this and I own no part of the Stargate world etc and so forth…

**Spoilers:** Set after EATG, therefore all of S5

**Comments:** Thank you to everyone who sent me inspiring comments and encouragement to continue writing. I tried to send a thank you to everyone who commented/reviewed or emailed. It is great to know there is still a large group of Stargate fans interested in reading SGA fic, and especially JT fic. I am continuing with 'Wishes' as so many of you requested, but my first real spark of inspiration you all gave me resulted in this fic. I was discussing with a couple of people over how to 'deal' with the issue of Kanaan. And this fic was born! Thank you to those who indulged in the Kanaan cleanup speculation – you know who you are. And yes, for the nudges too ;)

This is a completed fic that just needs the end finalised and a good old tidy up. Therefore I will try to post one chapter a day. The title refers to the classic song by the Spin Doctors (go on dig it out and have a listen for old time's sake!)

Two Princes

Chapter 1 - Springtime

----

John 

The C4 detonated with a burst of vibration, followed quickly by the secondary explosions. John momentarily lost his footing as the unseen shockwave hit against his back, but he righted himself, stumbling on along the path. Loose rocks cascaded ahead of him as he reached the crest of the embankment and below him he saw the hurried anxious faces staring up towards him and the destruction behind him. His boots hit the downside of the embankment and the hard wall of earth blocked him from the second rush of fast heated air and explosively propelled debris.

Rocks falling ahead of him John ran on, barely keeping upright as he all but slid downwards towards the glowing light of the Gate. Another shocking explosion vibrated through the embankment beneath his boots and this time he did fall onto his backside. Sharp points of rock bit into his bare palm as he fell. Behind him he heard Lorne grunt, but one quick look over his shoulder told John that the Major was unhurt.

"We've got incoming!" Rodney's echoed up towards John as he got his feet back under him. Half skating half falling down towards the open Gate, John looked down towards Rodney hunched worriedly over the DHD. The internal guts of the Ancient device had been dissected out and were laid around Rodney's feet. But, it was the one small glowing box transplanted into the DHD that drew all of John's attention, he watched as the pale blue light within the box flickered and he knew their time really was up.

"Get through the Gate, Rodney!" John shouted towards his friend as the last remaining members of the Daedalus' crew disappeared through the Gate.

As John hit the base of the embankment he heard the screaming sound of a lot of metal under tremendous stress, high up from behind them, but the sound was fast approaching. He didn't turn round to look - he still had too much distance to run to get to the Gate; the last open wormhole back home to Earth.

The reverberations of the weapons fire beyond the embankment doubled as the Wraith Super Base's weapons towers pounded out energy fire towards the descending nightmare headed towards them.

"Get through that Gate, Rodney!" John screamed his order as he pounded down the short path, almost to the Gate. "GO!" It was Ronon though who took the initiative and he grasped the back of Rodney's vest, dragging him away from the spluttering gutted DHD.

Everyone else was through and they only had seconds left.

"But, the crystals…" Rodney began to protest as he struggled surprisingly successfully against Ronon's pull.

"Rodney!" John shouted again, as he realised what had distracted Ronon's attention. The sound of the descending Daedalus was unmistakeable now as it screamed down through the atmosphere on an inevitable collision course with the Super Base. "We're right behind you," John shouted at his two friends.

Ronon pulled harshly on Rodney now, flinging him towards the glowing thin layer of the event horizon, sending Rodney roughly back to Earth and safety. John felt a moment of relief, despite his own distance from the Gate, at seeing Rodney gone and Ronon hovering ready as well.

"Go!" John shouted at his friend as behind him Lorne stumbled, possibly having looked over his shoulder at the descending sight of the Daedalus.

Oddly it was in this moment that John felt a stab of powerful regret. It could only have lasted the split second it took him to pass the DHD and as Ronon disappeared through the Gate. John knew that this trip really was the last chance to get back to Earth. Though they had been successful in getting the SGC and IOA to send a team back to Pegasus even without Atlantis, John knew that there would be no more opportunities like this. Maybe this strike against the Wraith really would kill most of them off, maybe Pegasus would be safer for the destruction about to truly begin behind the embankment. But, The Powers That Be would never risk a visit again and they sure as hell were never going to let Atlantis leave Earth.

Teyla had known that, which was why she, Kanaan and little Torren had been left back with the Athosians. The farewell had been quick and in the midst of a burgeoning battle. John had hugged her quickly, loosely and had wished her well, as the Daedalus had been about to jump away from the Athosian's new homeworld. He had had no time to really speak to her alone, to tell her how much he was going to miss her friendship. Maybe it had been the suspicion that this mission wasn't going to end well that had made him more closed up than normal with her. Or maybe it had been the fact that he knew whatever attractions and dreams he had harboured for her were now truly lost. She had her family and her people and the previous life in Atlantis would not return. Maybe one day in the far future people from his galaxy would visit Pegasus again, but he knew it would not be in his lifetime. There was too much to lose and too little to gain for Earth now.

It was a strange series of emotions and thoughts to flash through his mind as he tore towards the Gate, watching Ronon's back disappear through the water like substance of the wormhole. John wished he could stay, that life might have been different, but it wasn't to be. He was leaving Pegasus forever, leaving Teyla and little Torren behind.

The electrical splutter was just audible enough over the weapons fire a second before the event horizon disintegrated before John. For a moment he was confused, but then the trees and rocky ground on the far side of the Gate made it far too obvious; the wormhole had shut down inches before he had been about to run through it. At least it hadn't waited until he had been half way through! But that still meant that he and Lorne were trapped here.

John skidded to a halt within the ring of the Gate, turned and saw in the far distance the shape of the Daedalus bearing down through the clouds towards the Super Base. Fires were burning over the Daedalus, turning it into a burning unusually shaped ball of flames. Was this going to be it then? This was how he was going to die? At least all his people had escaped…except Lorne. John turned to the Major, who had already turned back to the DHD.

"The Earth dialling patch has blown," Lorne shouted from the DHD. Then there was no way to get to Earth. Thoughts of death disappeared as John's mind snapped back into military mode.

"Will it dial?" He asked even though he was already reaching over and dialling a new address. The DHD lit up, sparkling light turning on the Gate behind him. It wouldn't reach Earth anymore without Rodney's version of the Atlantis control crystal, but they could get off this planet before the Daedalus…

The explosion of the impact rocked the ground and John gripped onto the DHD to steady himself. The address was in and he felt the rush of air as the wormhole engaged behind him. Over the embankment in the distance he saw the fireball mushrooming up towards the clouds, setting fire to the air itself. They had seconds to leave before the secondary explosions hit and everything this side of the planet was incinerated.

With Lorne beside him, John raced for the Gate, flinging himself through it, desperately wondering if the blast of the explosion would still catch up with them at the other end of the Gate.

He felt the wash of the event horizon flow over his skin as he passed into it, away from death. He hadn't thought about which address he had dialled, only reacted instantly without prolonged thought, dialling the first address that came to his mind. Of course that was the one primarily in his mind, other than Earth's, and it was the address of the new Athosian world. He had memorised it, hoping that somehow he may one day be able to return there. Little had he known he would use it so soon.

-----

Kanaan

The fresh air breezed across the space before him, the scent of the trees, freshly budding plants and flowing water carrying in the air. He inhaled deeply and then exhaled with a heavy relaxed and happy sigh. He had missed this so much; the open space, the forests and hunting grounds. The scents of his childhood were drifting in the air, with the prospect of a summer soon to come.

Kanaan sighed again, looking away from his work to the rolling fields of grasses just visible through the line of trees around this side of the camp. It may not be Old Athos, or even New Athos, but it still felt like them. A planet that looked so similar that the planting and harvests traditions of his people were now at home on this world. He had been away too long.

The air held no hint of salt, the closest ocean being several hours walk away. The tents behind him were made traditionally and were warm and dark inside, making him feel relaxed and filled with memories of his life before Michael and Atlantis. This was where he was meant to be, not stuck on a floating half empty city upon a vast ocean, on a world that was not even in his home galaxy. Earth had many riches to be enjoyed he supposed, but he had never truly felt comfortable there even when living in the city of the Ancestors. He was surprised how free he felt to be away from the city now. It had been a home for him because that had been where Teyla wished to be and Torren with her. Kanaan had made the best he could of the situation, but in his heart he had wished to be right back here with his people.

He inhaled the air again and happiness blossomed through him. This was where he was meant to be, not out there in strange cities on strange alien worlds. Around him his people worked, smiled and lived as their fathers, mothers and their ancestors had done. It was a beautiful way to live and he felt nothing but gratitude for being able to return to this way of life.

Teyla had appeared pleased as well, having been cut off from her people by an entire galaxy. However, now back among them, Kanaan saw that her heart was heavy with the departure of her friends and her life on Atlantis. But, Atlantis would never return to this galaxy. It had been usurped by those from Earth. Kanaan had felt very bitter about that, as had most of those who had called Atlantis their home over the years. Kanaan had watched all of them battle to return to this galaxy, but their governments were never going to let such power as Atlantis go, especially as they had lost their most powerful defences for their planet. Kanaan guessed he understood that, but still it had been draining and depressing to know that decisions had been made over his future by people across an alien planet that he would never meet. In the end, he and Teyla had been offered the chance to return to Pegasus during a reconnaissance mission on the Daedalus.

A mission that had led to the discovery of Wraith cornered and ready to strike, so those on the Daedalus had formed a plan along with other allies and had headed off to attack the Wraith for good. But before they had left on a mission whose results they may never know, Kanaan, Teyla and Torren had been returned to their people. The circumstances of that departure had been hurried and Kanaan suspected that the quick goodbyes with her friends had pained Teyla further. Those from Earth would not be returning here and though Kanaan felt regret for Teyla he also felt a weight lift from him. Death, danger and destruction had been a violent part of the Athosians' lives since those from Earth had arrived in this galaxy. Maybe their departure would bring peace and contentment.

Kanaan looked over his shoulder towards the collection of living tents at the far end of the camp. It had been three days since the Daedalus had left and it was clear to Kanaan that Teyla was putting on a brave face. However, Kanaan saw the sadness in her eyes which spoke of a deep pain in her heart. He knew she would relax and be happy again once time passed. He only prayed that she would be happy to live nice and quietly alongside him for the rest of their lives.

In his mind he formed the image of that bright future. Torren would grow into a strong boy and would have brothers and sisters to carry on the Athosian blood. Kanaan and Teyla would live happily caring for their people, children and the galaxy would be free of Wraith. It was a future that was a very real possibility now. That freedom was due to those from Earth, so Kanaan decided he would only think good thoughts about them from now on. After all they were gone from his and Teyla's life now. The future was bright and he had all he wanted.

A loud call of concern drew his attention away from his bright thoughts and he looked round to see movement at the edge of the camp. Two shapes appeared along the main path from the Stargate and Kanaan could see Halling and several others moving forward to meet them. Visitors were always a welcome distraction and trading had been flourishing of late. Kanaan set down the ropes he had been weaving and followed the small crowd forward.

Halling's voice was just audible to Kanaan as he approached and the crowd parted enough for Kanaan to see the two men who had entered the camp. Kanaan's heart sank.

"…happened?" Was all Kanaan caught of Halling's question as their leader reached Colonel Sheppard's side. He and Major Lorne looked bruised and dirtied.

Sheppard held his weapon loosely at his side and stopped opposite Halling. There was a strange new quality to the way the man held himself and the same for Major Lorne beside him. Kanaan pushed into the crowd to get closer.

"Don't worry the mission was a success. We took out the last Hives and the Queens' Super Base is history. It took ramming the Daedalus into it to do it, but the threat is over for now," Sheppard reported. His voice was tired and Kanaan saw several cuts on his hands and bare forearms. Dirt and dust clung to his uniform and to the dried blood trails across his skin.

"And your people?" Halling pressed.

"They all got through the Gate back to Earth," Sheppard turned towards Lorne beside him. "Except for the two of us. The one way trip to Earth failed just before we could get through the Gate ahead of the shockwave."

A wave of concern and kind words flew from people's lips around Kanaan as he realised what had happened. Sheppard and Lorne were stuck here in this galaxy. Kanaan knew what was coming next.

"Looks kind of like we need somewhere to stay…to live," Sheppard added, his voice sounding worn.

Halling's words were out of his mouth before Sheppard finished his request. "You are both welcome to live here with us. You are like family to us all." The others all chorused out their agreement.

"Won't your people come back for you?" Kanaan asked. A heavy bitterness was rising in his heart and throat. Teyla would be happy see them, especially Sheppard.

Sheppard looked through the crowd and met Kanaan's eyes. "No. We lost the Daedalus and they won't risk sending another ship."

"We'll probably be classed as missing in action," Major Lorne added.

"Can't you stay with your allies, those Travellers?" Kanaan pushed. Several pairs of frowning eyes all turned towards him in the crowd, Halling's being the darkest.

Sheppard however seemed not to have taken offence, unlikely Kanaan's people. "Don't think I like the idea of living with people who I don't trust. They'd probably sell us to someone," Sheppard joked, turning to Lorne. Lorne nodded with a tight smile. The two of them had obviously talked about it before heading here. Of course the Athosians would be their first port of call.

"No, I agree you would not be safe there," Halling added his opinion, his arm slipping around Sheppard's shoulders and drawing him through the crowd with a care that normally wouldn't have seemed necessary for a man like Colonel Sheppard. "You are welcome here. First; are either of you badly injured?"

Kanaan tuned out the rest of the words as he watched Colonel Sheppard and Major Lorne be led into the camp. They were going to live here among the Athosians. Kanaan had never had all that much interaction with the Colonel in the past, but there had been a clear mutual distance between them. Kanaan had seen the closeness of Teyla and Sheppard, but it had also been clear to him that nothing had happened between them. That the Colonel had avoided Kanaan told him that perhaps Sheppard's affection for Teyla was more than just friendship. But, Kanaan had never really worried over it. Sheppard's life had been focused on his military work and Kanaan shared Torren with Teyla, so he had never really felt all that threatened by the man. Until now.

Now, the man was stripped of his job, his home and his future; so he would try to make one here among the Athosians. Suddenly Kanaan's confidence in his own bright future with Teyla seemed less certain.

---------

Teyla

The air was fresh above the running water, which was cold against her hands as she washed out the last of Torren's clothes. The stream's water was crystal clear and she could taste it in the air. As she squeezed out the last of the water from the fabric she looked round at her son lying happily in the dappled sunlight. Torren was gazing up at the trees above him, his eyes jumping from the gently stirring leaves and branches. She smiled at his fascination and looked up herself. The sunlight danced through the swaying thin canopy, but she suspected it was the birdsong that was drawing her son's attention. The small little golden coloured birds seemed to be particularly alive this afternoon. They danced between the branches and Teyla watched them for a few moments.

It had only been three days since she had returned to live with her people, and she had to assume that the ache in her chest would fade with time. And hopefully so would the anger at herself for not accompanying her friends into their last battle in this galaxy. Then perhaps she would be able to sleep more comfortably. She missed her friends terribly and the stark knowledge that she would never see any of them again was a very real pain in her heart. Tears in her eyes, she fixed her attention on watching the birds happily swooping between the tree branches. She wished she at least knew what had happened in the last mission, but she had no way to find out other than to wait for rumours to pass through to her from trading partners. Even then she would never know if the rumours were accurate.

She had to assume as well that her friends, and all of those on the Daedalus, had survived and made it back to Earth. Her team, former team, had been part of the ground force, so they would have escaped through the Gate back to Earth hopefully. So, she had to assume they were there, that they were safe and happy. She wondered what they would be doing now. Would they be in the SGC, Atlantis or in a home of their own? John, Rodney and Ronon had remained living in Atlantis back on Earth, but she suspected that would not last. She prayed to the Ancestors that they would live happy long lives.

Blinking away tears, she looked down from the tree tops to Torren again, who looked at her and giggled before he returned his attention to his bird watching. She smiled then, reaching out and stroking her fingers down one of his small legs to tickle his feet. He smiled absently and she returned her attention to completing her washing of his things. Not for the first time in the last three days did she wish she had access to the washing machines of Atlantis again. She suspected she would be nostalgic about many things from Atlantis for many years to come.

She shook out the little shirt and added it to the pile to hang out to dry later, and looked down the stream towards the few others of her people using the stream to wash their clothes. Hakon smiled at her as he turned away with his full basket of clothes. It was a happy life here, though the pressing fear of the Wraith returning was always there, but there was hope now that life would be more peaceful. And they had those from Earth to thank for that. She remembered the hollowed regret in John's eyes in the past when he blamed himself for waking the Wraith all those years ago, but in the end he had helped to destroy most of that threat. She caught herself picturing him in the Gate room of Atlantis, moving on with his life and the pain returned to her chest with a vengeance.

Annoyed with her continuing down thoughts, she dried off her hands and wrapped up the wet clothes and added them all to the basket beside Torren. She stood up, stretching out her back, when she heard someone hurrying along the stream's banks.

"Teyla?" Someone called and Teyla turned to see Fera appear through the shrubbery. There was an urgency to the woman's expression.

"What is it?" Teyla asked hurriedly, automatically focusing on her Wraith sensing abilities, seeking out danger. There was nothing to feel, but threats came in many forms.

Fera smiled then as she disentangled herself from a trailing shrub. "No, all is well. The Wraith base was destroyed."

Teyla felt a burst of relief, but the inevitability of her friends' departure was even more pronounced. "And those from Earth?"

"They made it through to their home, but lost their ship in order to destroy the Wraith base. All except Colonel Sheppard and Major Lorne."

Panic and pain shot through her. "Did they not survive?" Her heart hammered in her chest. Was John lost?

"They survived, they are here," Fera replied.

"What?" Teyla asked. "But, you said…"

"He and Major Lorne did not make it through to Earth in time and can not return now. They are in the camp," Fera explained pointing back towards the camp through the trees.

"They are here?" Teyla asked already moving towards the camp, only to remember Torren and turned back to collect up her son. Fera gathered up the washing basket for her and followed along behind. "Are they hurt?" Teyla asked as she dashed along the stream, shrubbery breaking in her path.

"A few cuts and bruises, but Halling was seeing to them. They have asked to live with us," Fera added conversationally from behind Teyla.

Teyla looked over her shoulder, but did not slow her step. They were really trapped here in Pegasus? Regret for them warred with the pleasure that she would see John again.

She marched her way towards the camp, Fera falling back unable to keep up with her quick pace. Teyla reached the outskirts of the camp, Torren grumbling on her hip at the fast pace. The first person Teyla saw she opened her mouth to ask where John and Major Lorne were only for the person to anticipate her question and tell her they were in the healing tent. Teyla moved quickly through the avenues of the camp until she reached the back of the healing tent, and already she could hear John's distinctive voice talking with Halling inside. She rounded the tent to reach the entrance and entered to see John and Lorne sitting opposite Halling. Automatically she looked over the two men, seeing the newly cleaned scratches on their arms and faces, the dirt and dust on their dark uniforms, but otherwise they seemed unhurt.

"John? Major?" Teyla asked loudly as she entered. The three men all turned to her and wide smiles crossed all three faces. Relief finally hit her square in the chest and in her arm Torren grumbled loudly.

"Teyla," John replied as he stood up, his smile deepening and she headed quickly over to him. His arms were around her and her free one around him without any thought. They had rarely embraced before, but right now she needed to feel his very real physical presence against hers. She resisted the surge of tears to her eyes as she inhaled the familiar scent of him and his clothing. Torren struggled in her arms having recognised John, one of his favourite people, and Teyla pulled back. She turned towards Lorne who stood beside her and John. A little embarrassed suddenly at her very overt emotional display at seeing John, she focused on the Major now.

"Are you alright, both of you?" She asked looking over both of them more closely. The smell of burning lingered around them slightly.

"We're okay, a little tired," Lorne replied.

"The Super Base is gone," John told her.

She nodded, though she was more interested in how the two men were. "That is good to know. Fera told me you can not return to Earth? What happened to Rodney's device?"

"It gave out just when we were about to run through," John replied as he caught one of Torren's little waving hands. "We dialled up a local address just in time." There was something to the edge of John's voice that told her just how close they really had been to death. She reached out and gripped one of his arms as she nodded.

"I am so glad to see you both, though sorry that you can not return to your world." There was a slight tweak of a smile to John's lips and she remembered that she had echoed herself from years ago when they had first met.

"I have told Colonel Sheppard and Major Lorne that they are welcome to live with us," Halling said from Teyla's left and she looked round to meet her old friend's eyes. She saw the conviction and honesty there.

"Yes, we would be honoured for you to live here," Teyla agreed. It was such a bizarre place to suddenly be. Not so long ago she had been the one trapped on an alien planet in an alien galaxy, now John and the Major were in that position. She knew precisely how they felt, but then perhaps not, for there had always been a possibility of return for her. She doubted that Earth would ever send another expedition to Pegasus, after all they had had to fight so hard for this one trip.

"They won't come back for us now," John told her echoing her thoughts. "We had to ram the Daedalus into the Super Base."

She understood what that meant; no other ship would be risked. At least not for a very long time. She would never see Rodney or Ronon again. The sadness from before returned, but the warmth of John's arm under her hand reminded her that she wasn't as alone as she had thought. She looked up at John and then to Lorne and saw in their eyes an even deeper sadness. She was pleased that John especially was here, but she knew that he did not wish to be and she would never wish that on him. She looked down behind them to their vests lying beside their P90s. They didn't even have any personal items with them, only the clothes on their backs and the weapons in their hands.

She squeezed John's arm before releasing him. "Then we need to find you each a tent and you will need furniture, clothing." The list formed in her mind, aiding her through the strange mixture of excitement and sadness.

---------  
TBC


	2. Summertime

**Chapter:** 2 - Summertime

**Comments** – Okay, so I realise that if I only post one chapter a day it will take a couple of weeks to get this story posted, so here are 3 new chapters for today. Enjoy!

Two Princes

Chapter 2 - Summertime

--------

John

It was cool inside away from the heat of the day outside. The entrance flap hung down over the entrance to his tent kept out the bright sunlight and allowed his home to be shadowed in coolness. He had been surprised how well the Athosian tents contained heat in the cold nights, yet kept cool inside during the growing hot days. But, then he shouldn't have been, for Teyla's people had been living in them for a very long time and they wouldn't have used them if they didn't function well.

He looked up around at his home of two months. There was nothing from Earth, save what had been in the pockets of his vest. The walls of the tent were bare of any posters, the tables bare of laptops or MP3 players. He didn't even have a book to read. His life had been stripped bare of anything from home save weapons and his one change of clothing. He had new shirts and trousers now, made by Athosian hands, modelled closely on Earth designs, but they were not the same. Teyla had tried to help by finding brightly coloured wall hangings from a trading partner to brighten up his tent. How she had known that he needed that he wasn't sure. She had also given him two thick rugs for the floor, one which he had set by the table and chairs Halling had given him.

The first few weeks in the camp he had thrown himself into working alongside the Athosians in the fields tending the growing grain and vegetables. But, the depression had begun to set in as he watched the grain grow as the months passed. He had tried to stay positive and see the good in his life, but he missed Atlantis and Earth culture. He missed music, only able to content himself with humming his favourite tunes as he worked, so that he wouldn't forget what they sounded like. He had even sat up one night writing down all the lyrics to his top Johnny Cash songs, frightened that he would forget them all. Lorne seemed to be struggling as well, though he tried to hide it. John could see the same lingering sadness in his gaze and in the weight to the man's shoulders.

The Athosians had welcomed the two of them into their camp with an ease and acceptance that humbled John. He had made sure he pulled his weight in the camp and had even begun to learn some new skills such as tent maintenance, basic carpentry and helped out in hunting the local deer like creature that bounded silently through the forests. He had tried to see this new life as being like a break, a working holiday, but that hadn't kept back the reality that he would never again fly a chopper, listen to Solitary Man or ride on a Ferris wheel.

His saving grace though was the Jumper. When the Athosians had first settled on this world Atlantis had set up several weapons caches, like there had been on New Athos, but also had kept a cloaked Jumper hidden in the forest in case of emergencies and then Atlantis would always have a backup Jumper located off world. It had taken a couple of days in the camp before John remembered it was there. He and Lorne had set off through the forest with Teyla and had found the Jumper intact. Of course there was nothing but emergency rations and some weapons in there, but it had lifted John's spirits. He took the Jumper up into orbit every few days, and it reassured him slightly in the safety of living in the camp. The weapons caches would only hold so much, as along with John and Lorne's ammo, there was a very finite amount of bullets. Not that he was looking for trouble, but he was acutely aware of the fact that he had no back up here. There was no rescue services here, no Jumpers flying in from Atlantis. If something hit here then they only had what was in the caches and the one Jumper. It would be enough…he hoped.

Though, Jumper aside, he was also especially thankful for both Teyla and Lorne. Though he regretted Lorne being stuck here along with him, at least John had someone from Earth to talk with. The two of them had become pretty tight, but in truth it was Teyla's friendship that did the most for John. He spent a huge amount of his time with her. She had been his instructor on all things Athosian and when working in the fields and in the hunting runs they always worked together. In fact he, Teyla and Lorne made one of the best teams out there, not that John was being competitive. But, there was little else to do. Babysitting had become another focus of his. John had spent more time with Torren in the last couple of months than he had all of the past year in Atlantis. Spending time with the little boy helped John focus on something outside of himself and his lingering home sickness. He also liked to think that it was helping Teyla to have a regular babysitter.

But, aside from those distractions he still had to face the fact that he was never going home again. Every day he hit that wall and some days, especially when it was cold and rained, he would withdraw into his tent for hours. He had gotten hold of a type of blank notebook from a trading session off world, and he had begun to essentially write his memoirs. It was self indulgent, but it helped him to think that he was making a record of Earth and his life. He would read over it a lot, lingering on getting the details right in case he eventually forgot in the future. He knew he was dwelling too much, but right now that was all that could really make him feel any better.

Some days he also contemplated heading off world for long trips, maybe to see if he could find some Ancient tech that could get him and Lorne home. But, that presented several problems; firstly that it might draw attention to them and to the Athosian's new homeworld. Secondly he and Lorne had no backup if anything went wrong. And lastly he really doubted that there was anything out there that would help. What could have helped was parked on an ocean on Earth. Atlantis was gone and he had to accept that…eventually.

------

Kanaan 

He wasn't happy. A part of him was ashamed at his thoughts and feelings on the new members of the camp, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that things had inevitably changed.

Teyla spent a huge part of her time working in Sheppard and Lorne's company. It was clear to most that the two men from Earth were missing their home, and Kanaan knew Teyla was only trying to help. Yet, he couldn't help but feel worried and angry. He never said anything to Teyla, though she had sensed something was worrying him. He didn't point out the fact that they hadn't made love in many days, or that their quiet times sitting around the fires now included those from Earth. That Torren seemed to love Sheppard had also lead to Kanaan feeling rather left out.

He had confessed his concerns to a friend, only for them to point out that they had seen no such suggestion that Teyla preferred Sheppard's attention. It appeared that Sheppard had woven his charming personality over the entire camp, and they had all fallen under his spell. His ease and handsome features grated on Kanaan's nerves. When once suggesting to Halling that perhaps having Sheppard and Lorne in the camp may endanger them all, Halling had turned instead on him. Halling had suggested that the problem was with Kanaan and that he should speak to Sheppard some time, rather than practically ignoring him. Halling had said that it was clear Sheppard was hurting and that Teyla was assisting her friend, and that Kanaan should be more compassionate.

A little shaken by Halling's opinion Kanaan had made more of an effort to engage with Sheppard. The Earth man was polite in reply and the two of them were able to sit around the same fire and have a polite, yet short conversation. Yet, it was clear to Kanaan that Sheppard didn't like his company any more than Kanaan liked Sheppard's. It was an uneasy truce of a kind to a battle that seemed never to have begun yet still waged on unseen. There was no basis for Kanaan's worries, except the fact that he was generally feeling more distant from Teyla since they had been dropped back into the camp by the Daedalus.

Atlantis seemed to have the ability to break hearts Kanaan had decided. Teyla, Sheppard and Lorne all clearly missed it and through the city their ability to make a difference in the wider scheme of things. Whereas Kanaan had felt nothing but relief when they had left the city. He wondered if he had lost Teyla that first day they had left Earth, though she had seemed to have left willingly. Deep down in his heart he feared that she had changed her mind, about many things.

--------

Teyla 

It was a beautiful day, the sun shining down with a strong heat, yet there was a strong enough breeze to keep the skin cool. She sat upon the grassy bank overlooking the open field on which the older children were playing football. With John's presence in the camp the game had been played more often than ever before and had become particularly popular with the older children and their parents. Teyla smiled as she watched a group tumble down over each other in an aborted attempt to reach the ball in time.

Major Lorne, or Evan as he had insisted she now call him, was in the middle of the pile and Teyla watched with amusement as he attempted to stand up with the children hanging off him. They were winning by the looks of it, but Evan still had the ball. It was good to see Evan smiling, and so honestly. So often he and John smiled in an attempt to appear happier than they truly were, but Teyla could see through the front. She could see how much they hurt, yet she had faith that they would be well, that time would heal their internal wounds and allow them to move forward with their lives. Yet, hope was a dangerous thing to hold; for though it inspired and kept the spirit alive, it could also whither a person with time. She knew that deep down inside they hoped that Earth would find a way to reach them, to take them home. Teyla knew for sure that Rodney would not have taken John's disappearance well. Evan and John were in that painful point where they had to surrender their hope in rescue in order for them to move forward, yet they would never lose faith that one day they may see familiar faces appear through the Gate or see the shape of an Earth ship descend through the clouds. It was a painful time for them, but she had faith herself that they would pass through into a happier more accepting place. Yet, it pained her to see their struggle, especially when she loved their company here.

Her friendship with John had never been so strong, with the two of them spending a large amount of time in each other's company. He had also become a babysitter for Torren, and Teyla had asked him to sit for Torren more often than was strictly necessary, for she saw the delight John found in caring for the boy.

She looked out around the field seeking out where John might be with Torren. She had just returned from a trading trip and since Kanaan was still working on the new irrigation system of the larger river, she had left Torren with John. But, it appeared John was not out enjoying the sunshine and football. He had been spending a lot of time in his tent recently, especially on those darker days when there was not as much that could be done in the camp. She would often leave him be for a few hours and then would seek him out. He would usually be in his tent writing of Earth. She could recognise what those on Earth would call depression in him, but she also knew it was to be expected. It was painful to watch him attempt to hide his sadness, but she would always see it and she also knew it embarrassed him that she could. She would not allow him to sink into loneliness though, and it appeared that the rest of the camp thought the same.

She set out through the camp to find him, only to find that he wasn't in any of the main tents or sitting areas, nor was he in his own tent. As she was leaving his tent's entrance she noticed his washing basket was missing, which meant he was likely to be down by the stream. So, she headed out through the bright sun again towards the trees. Her long flowing skirts danced around her legs and the sunlight was a hot glow over her bare arms. The summer's heat was intense at this end of the camp and she found herself eager to reach the cool air of the stream among the trees.

She heard John talking to Torren long before she found them. He was chatting to Torren about something called a prom, but she had no idea to what that referred. His tone of voice was pleasing, for though he sounded rather withdrawn and sad at times, when he was with Torren he was always upbeat. They were all encouraging Torren to talk more, so John was also using that tone all adults used when talking to young children; speaking slower and more clearly than normal. John was asking Torren questions as well, which were responded to with sharp barks of various new noises Torren was experimenting with.

Teyla smiled at the one sided conversation as she made her way through the trees and shrubbery. The air was cooler here, but the air was still warm. The days were very long on this planet and the twin suns created an intense summer heat that penetrated into even the depths of the forest. Pushing through the thick ferns she reached the open space by the stream at which everyone washed their clothes. Torren sat on his padded play mat, a fluffy Earth toy in each hand, however his attention was wavering between them, the trees above and John. John was crouched close by, leant forward over the stream's edge. Teyla heard a splash of water and John stood up as he shook out a dark coloured shirt. Perhaps the shirt he had been wearing today, for he was now bare-chested. Teyla paused in mid step at the sight of his long toned back. He wore brown Athosian style trousers, hung loose at his waist revealing the top of his backside and the narrowness of his waist. He shook out the shirt again, and Teyla watched the play of muscles across his back. From here he looked like an Athosian, the only hint that he was not was the thin silver chain around his neck which held his dog tags.

Aware that she was standing and staring Teyla pulled herself together, surprised at her ogling. It was hardly the first time she had noticed how handsome John was, but it was the first time she had seen him like this; relaxed, half naked and taking care of her son. A deep rather forbidden group of feelings surfaced – feelings she had hoped to have suppressed before now. However, life it seemed had drawn this man into her life again. A man who was a close friend, yet not interested in her as a potential partner. She had thought losing him to Earth was painful, but there was a deeper pain that was of disappointment and a life unlived except only in fantasies and dreams. She had thought herself beyond entertaining these thoughts any further, but then life had changed recently had it not.

Shaking her self out of her trance she moved forward, though her eyes strayed very little from the sight of John's back and arms. He sensed movement behind him and turned, only improving her view further.

"Teyla," he greeted her and she thought she saw a flush of embarrassment. "I was just telling Torren embarrassing stories from my childhood," he added though she had to wonder if that were the source of his discomfort.

He shook out the wet shirt again and folded it roughly into the basket.

"Yes, I heard part of it," lying partly as she hadn't taken in much after catching sight of him. Why did she have to be gifted with such an attractive close friend? "What is a Prom?"

He grinned, a proper smile that she rarely got to see of late. He pulled out his dry shirt from under Torren's bag and she watched rather disappointedly as he pulled it on. She chastised herself though, thinking of another man that way when she was involved with Kanaan. So, she crouched down by Torren focusing on him and his toys as John explained the American cultural tradition of school proms.

She had been so sad to see John leave along with her other friends, and then pleased to see his return, despite the circumstances for him. Now, she had to wonder if it had been so wise to welcome him so willingly for her heart was once again split. At least when he had left for good she had been left to commit totally to her Athosian life and Kanaan, and perhaps of occasionally pleasantly dreaming of what if's if John had stayed. Now however, life had changed and had become somehow more confusing. There was no longer the distraction of work, ranks and separate cultures. Now John was living as an Athosian, wearing a mixture of Earth and Athosian clothes,and looking after her son with as much dedication as Torren's father. It was confusing for her and it felt as if all the complications from before were now in the forefront and more intimate than ever before.

Despite having a loving father for Torren and her close friend living among her people, she felt strangely alone.

-----------  
TBC


	3. Autumn

Two Princes

Chapter 3 - Autumn

--------

John

The tall stalks of the brown grain stood level with John's shoulders. The grain had a faint sweet scent that lingered around you for the rest of the evening following a day in the field. Tool in hand John stooped and sliced cleanly through the thick stalks, catching them as they fell, pulling them in tight against his hip as he turned and added the large handful to the growing pile in the cart behind him.

He had been at it for two days now and had quickly developed the right technique, making the cut as clean as possible through the stalks and keeping the heavy heads of grain from touching the ground on the way to the cart. There were faster ways of harvesting, but this particular grain was particularly delicate and required direct handling with care. Which also meant it took time and John liked that. The last two days he had spent every moment of daylight out here almost hidden among the tall stalks of swaying Sweet Grain. It would take another full day for him and the other ten working this field to complete the harvest. Though there were ten others working across the field, he rarely saw them, only Lorne who was working to move the carts once they were loaded. John liked the silence, broken only by the soft sound of the swaying plants.

Summer was over and the grains, vegetables and other plants the Athosians used for food and trade were all ripening fast. Autumn was here already as the leaves were falling from the forest trees in various bright colours, and there was a sharp crispness to the air in the mornings and evenings. The nights were drawing in and with them the growing knowledge that the coldness of winter was on the way. But, there was time to reap the harvests and get most of the trading done before the winter hit. The Athosians had not lived a full winter on this world yet, so no one was entirely sure how harsh the winter was going to be, but John was sure he wasn't looking forward to it.

The summer months had passed quickly and with them the last vestiges in his heart of rescue any time soon. His near obsessive recording of his Earth memories and stories had stopped and inside he knew he had accepted that his life was now here, but that did not mean he was happy about it. Not that he was depressed either, he was just existing from one day to the next learning how to live among the Athosians and how to become a farmer. He quite liked farming really; it was simple yet hard work, demanding of him physically and there wasn't much risk of being killed. That last point was rather new for him. There was also the fact that there hadn't been a Wraith raid here or on any other world the Athosians had contact with. It seemed that they had been successful in defeating the Wraith, though he had no way of knowing how long that would last. Time would tell and John suspected it would be many years until the Wraith, if there were any left, would be strong enough to make a serious come back.

Life in the Athosian camp was comfortable enough, though he still felt separate. Lorne had appeared to have become more accepting of their situation, and had found a way to return to his hobby of painting. He had been gathering pigments from off world and had found various roots, berries and stones on this world that could be made into paints. Lorne appeared deeply involved in his hobby, outside of harvesting and hunting hours. It seemed to have given him a focus that had lifted him - that and the pretty Athosian lady who appeared to be interested in art, who was now helping him. John had to wonder if it was really the painting that was inspiring the Major.

John dropped another load of stalks into the cart and turned to look back down the empty strip of field he had been clearing. Lorne was nowhere to be seen, but then he was probably moving other carts. Deciding he could take a break, John set down the sharp sickle and lifted his water bottle to his mouth. The water was refreshing and he swallowed it down eagerly as he turned to look off towards the distant Athosian camp set up on a rise half surrounded by trees. He could see people moving around in the open space and between the tents. Even from here he could identify a few of them from their distinctive clothes or height, such as with Halling. He knew them all by name and had talked with most of them over the fires and meals. They were a very friendly people, with the slight exception of Kanaan.

Kanaan could be polite enough, but would mostly ignore John to the point of rudeness. Not that John had all that polite feelings towards the man. It was clear that Kanaan didn't like that John and Lorne had joined the camp. It was also apparent that relations between Teyla and Kanaan were a little strained, but John had made sure not to get involved in any way. He didn't even ask Teyla about it, wishing instead to pretend he didn't know anything. Lorne however knew most of the gossip in the camp and John wasn't all that sure how, as he had never thought of Lorne as a gossip hound. Perhaps it was the pretty Athosian ladies who were sharing the camp news with him. It had occurred to John only recently that though Lorne had attracted quite a lot of female attention that he had not. Not that John was looking for any female company of that sort right now. But, the gossip had been interesting.

It appeared Kanaan felt that Teyla regretted leaving Atlantis, though Teyla had insisted that she was happy to be living back with their people. However, John suspected that there was far more to the tensions between the couple. From the looks he had received from Kanaan, John knew the man felt John was a threat and was clearly jealous of John and Teyla's friendship. John didn't care though and there was no way he was going to spend less time with Teyla now. She was a rock for him here and it had been the highlight of living here to be able to deepen their friendship. He had discovered that they had far more in common than he had ever been aware of before. They seemed to share similar humours, opinions and she had seemed to relax further around him, teasing him more than ever before and he thoroughly enjoyed spending time alone with her and Torren. Those were happy relaxing times. He never felt alone or that deep sadness of loss. With them he felt at peace, which was something that, even back in Atlantis and on Earth, was a rarity for him. There was no way John was going to give up that friendship time to help ease Kanaan's fears. It may be somewhat selfish of him, but John didn't care right now. It was Kanaan's problem, not his to deal with. John could live quite happily with Kanaan ignoring him.

In the far distance John saw one person moving abruptly through the camp and he knew it was Teyla from the shape of her and from the clothes she wore. It appeared, even from here, that she was not happy. It was rare to see Teyla anything but calm, but it was clear that she was angry or perhaps upset. He had the strong urge to go find her to see if she was okay, maybe use the excuse of needing more water to return to the camp. But, he suspected it had been an argument between her and Kanaan, and John remained reluctant to talk about that, let alone give any free rein to his silent opinion of Teyla's choice.

He was aware that there was a lot more underlying his feelings and thoughts about that, but that was just one more thing that he chose to ignore. There was a lot bubbling under the surface inside him, but he refused to even acknowledge they were there, for that would only open a wound that had been so painfully torn open on that fateful day when Teyla had told him she was pregnant with Torren.

Turning abruptly away from the camp, he reached down for the small sickle and set back to work with renewed gusto. His mind slid so expertly away from his emotions and deeper feelings and once again settled into silent focus on his work.

-------

Kanaan

Torren was fast asleep enjoying his afternoon nap. Outside the autumn air was cool and as the breeze flowed in from over the fields now busy being harvested, it carried the extra chill of the season to come. Kanaan closed the entrance flap a little tighter to keep the chill away from his son as he slept. It was also a way of creating the privacy he wished in order to talk with Teyla.

She was seated by the low table on which she was cutting cloth to make new clothes for Torren. Their son was growing quickly and there seemed to be a constant need to keep ahead of his growth with clothing, and with the winter on the way he would need to be protected from freezing temperatures.

Kanaan moved towards her bowed head as she cut along a chalked line she had drawn out across the dark fabric. He had watched her do this many times, but today it felt like she was overtly focused on the task. He tried not to sigh; he seemed to be imbuing so many of her actions with negative meaning and it was pressing upon him. He moved around to the side of the table and settled down on the floor cushion. She looked round at him surprised to see him sitting beside her.

"Teyla, may we talk?" Kanaan began.

He thought he saw a flicker of reluctance in her eyes, but they were turned from him before he could be certain. She set down the fabric, settling her hands on her lap and looked at him. He had her full attention. "What do you wish to discuss, Kanaan?"

He looked down to the outlines across the material on the table between them. "I feel that we have been less that contented with each others' company of late," he began.

She tilted her head in a manner that suggested she felt his comment an understatement. "You have been questioning my honesty, Kanaan."

"You know that I do not mean to question your honesty, only whether there is regret in your heart."

She looked at him, releasing a heavy breath as she did. "I have said before that I see no shame in admitting that I miss my friends and life in Atlantis." He shook his head to agree with her; there was no shame of course. "I will not apologise for feeling loss, but we made the decision to leave Atlantis together."

Of course that was not true in Kanaan's mind. If she had wished to stay on Earth what choice would he have had? Leave her and his son in another galaxy? Her choices had defined his. Yet, she was right - he had no right to question her feelings of loss. He told her that, apologising for his behaviour of late, hoping to mend the emotional rift between them. "I did not react well to the arrival of Colonel Sheppard and Major Lorne," he admitted. She nodded, looking away back to the pattern before her. "I feared that their presence would once again draw your attention away from us and our people."

She looked back at him. "I am allowed to focus on more than one thing at a time, Kanaan," she stated patiently.

"Of course," he replied hurriedly. "However, I feared that they would lead you back to your previous life of danger, which may draw you away from our life here." It was mostly true, for he didn't want to reveal to her his feelings of jealousy towards Colonel Sheppard.

Her hand reached across the low table and settled on his forearm, the warmth of her touch communicating her emotion and reminding him that it had been many days since he had held her in his arms. "I appreciate that it must have been difficult for you, but understand that they are as much a part of my life as any of my friends. And you accepted my choices to work with those from Earth in Atlantis. You said that you supported them."

"I did, I do. It is just that…we have the chance to live the life we always wished now: to live with our people somewhere safe and to bring up our son without the threat of the Wraith." Excitement tinged his voice as he felt that picture returning to his mind and flushed with hope he settled his hand on top of hers.

Her eyes dropped to his hand over hers. "I know, Kanaan." The words were right, but he sensed sadness behind them.

"Will you tell me what it is that saddens you so to speak of our future?" He asked gently.

He saw her start to respond, but then hold back her words physically by biting her lower lip. He squeezed her hand encouragingly. "What is it, Teyla?"

She sighed and a strange little smile crossed her features. "It is just that sometimes it feels as if my time in Atlantis was almost a dream; gone before I truly enjoyed it. I wish that I had the chance to enjoy both my people and my life on Atlantis together again."

"Have you not been saying to the Colonel and Major Lorne that we must let go of the past and move forward into the future?" He pushed.

She nodded and tilted her face back towards him. "But, we must not forsake the future for not being present in the here and now."

Confused a little, he surrounded her hand more tightly with his. "What do you mean?"

She shook her head and pulled gently on her hand and he let her go, caressing her hand as he did. "I mean only that perhaps we should focus on the present and allow the future to reveal itself in time," she replied with a smile.

He nodded as he returned her smile, feeling better about the situation. "Then there is something else I wish to discuss with you."

She looked surprised and smiled again. "What is it?"

"It is something that we have not discussed before now," he began and he saw a fleeting moment of concern across her features, but he could tell he had intrigued her. It was a new and exciting experience for him. "Torren is over a year old now and now that we are properly settled on this new world, I thought it might be time to discuss having another child."

He suspected he could not have surprised her any more if he had told her he was actually a Wraith queen in disguise. She sat back from the table and she looked away from him, her mouth opened and closed silently for a few moments and it was clear she was attempting to gather her thoughts. Deciding it might be best to press his plan upon her now to convince her, he continued.

"Torren could be almost two by the time the next child is born. Then the baby would not be as demanding and there will be plenty of carers to watch over Torren." He became aware that her eyes were wide with concern and he stopped his words.

"Kanaan, I do not think I am ready to have another child," she replied.

He paused, concern returning. "You said you were clear on your choice to live here with our people."

"That is true, but that does not mean that I am ready to have another child."

"You said you are sad about the loss of your friends and Atlantis, perhaps another child would be a new focus to help you to move past those thoughts," he suggested aware as he spoke that he was somehow only making the situation worse.

Teyla stood up abruptly from the table surprising him. "A child is hardly a way of dealing with grief and indecision, Kanaan," she stated with a tightly controlled voice. "You speak about our future as if it is a certain thing, but I do not recall us discussing this before."

"As I said…" he began, but she was turning away from him.

"I can not speak of this any further just now, please excuse me" she said, her voice tight that suggested there were perhaps tears in her eyes.

"Teyla?" He called in shock as she pushed her away out of the tent, the season's new chill gusting in behind her. "Teyla!"

--------

Teyla

Teyla strode quickly across the camp, her head turned down in an attempt to conceal the tears she could feel in her eyes. The anger and panic bubbled away in her chest and she knew she had to find some distance away from Kanaan, away from the camp. She reached the path which led away from the tents and headed along it for a short while until she was hidden from the camp, and then she left the well trodden path and headed into the thicker trees.

She was shocked not only at Kanaan's abrupt suggestion, but at her own reaction. She could not remember reacting to anything in such a dramatic way since she had learnt her people had been taken and that she carried Torren. Before that only other rare moments of grief or shock had provoked such feelings.

She reached the edge of the embankment that overlooked the fields below and she stopped near the edge. The breeze was stronger up here and it trailed her hair around her, until she brushed it aside allowing it to stream out behind her. Her skirts billowed around her as well, and it felt an appropriate accompaniment to the tumultuous emotions running through her. The air was sharply cold against her face, but it helped somewhat. She blinked her eyes, driving the tears from her lashes, as inside she drew tight control of herself.

Now thinking about it, she was not entirely sure what had shocked her more; Kanaan's suggestion or her immediate reaction to it. She had felt panicked as if she had been threatened to have something precious and personal torn from her. It was a strange reaction, yet she could not deny how powerful it had been. She had thought about having another child before, but had not followed through on those thoughts. After all Torren had not been planned, but his arrival had been one of the most cherished gifts in her life. She knew another child would be equally as precious to her, but when it had been suggested in the package Kanaan had presented it in she had panicked.

He had made so many assumptions on her wishes in the future. She had chosen to leave Atlantis and Earth, and though it had pained her she had believed that it had been a necessary choice – for it had been her only chance to return to her people and allow both Kanaan and Torren to live as the Athosians they were. Until now she had stayed strong in that choice, but now she had to wonder if she was harbouring regrets and some bitterness at her loss. She wondered if she really had made the right choice. Kanaan's suggestion had brought home to her the truth that this really was her life now. Atlantis was unlikely to ever return and her future was back in that tent.

She looked down across the fields below her, striped now with lines of harvested rows and the remaining strips of grain and plants. She could see the people doted around the fields as they worked different areas of the fields. She searched across the tall Sweet Grain field until she saw the shape of John. Even from this distance she could pick him out, but then they had been part of a team for five years and that ability to find each other in times of crisis had been important. She watched him working, though there were very few details she could make out from up here, but she knew the techniques of harvesting the Sweet Grain very well, having spent most of her life working in Athosian fields. In a way she had missed working as a farmer; it was a simpler life yet in many ways as demanding as working in Atlantis. And now it was all she would have. Never before in her life had she seen the Athosian life this way, but suddenly it felt very limiting. She knew it wasn't the lifestyle itself, or her people, instead it was the sensation that her choices had all been taken from her. Kanaan's suggestion had highlighted that feeling for her and it was not his fault.

There was movement through the trees behind her and she knew Kanaan had tracked her down. She listened intently for a few moments and decided he was still some distance off, and she was not about to call out to him to direct him straight to her; she needed a little more time.

She moved to her right, towards the bench set up here on which to sit and enjoy the view. The bench was newly crafted and did not yet have the worn feel of a well used bench. It would in time. The breeze was less sitting here and she ran her fingers through her hair pulling it back under control and tucked it behind her ears. She wiped her hands over her face just to be sure there were no tears left on her face. Happy she was presentable enough she sat and waited for him to find her, and found her eyes seeking out John in the far distance again.

She needed time perhaps that was all. She had focused so much on John and Evan's loss, that she had ignored her own.

Bracken broke gently behind her and she looked over her shoulder to see Kanaan emerge from the trees. He paused on the edge of the tree line, the breeze stirring his hair. She saw the hesitation in him and she regretted having made such a dramatic scene. She smiled up at him and he looked slightly less worried as he approached her gently.

"I apologise," she whispered to him as he reached the bench. "You shocked me."

He nodded as he sat down carefully, as if he might cause her to run off again if he moved too fast. "Then I should apologise to you," he offered.

She smiled at him again, but the effort of it felt painful.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

She smiled tightly again, a lock of hair breaking free to graze over her check. She lifted a hand to her face, still feeling embarrassed and slightly ashamed of her emotional outburst. It was so unlike her. A part of her whispered quietly that perhaps then she should pay attention to what she was really feeling.

Kanaan reached out and laid his hand over hers.

"I am alright. I suppose that it has only just hit me," she told him as she looked out across the fields below. "That a part of my life is truly over. That I can never go back," she whispered, her eyes finding John again amidst the many in the distance. Perhaps some things were never meant to be, but it was only now that she realised how much she had really wanted them.

Kanaan's other hand slid around her shoulders, drawing her gently into his embrace and she closed her eyes allowing her self to find comfort from him. "I need some time," she told him.

"I understand, Teyla," he replied.

She opened her eyes and this time made sure not to look out at the fields, instead she looked off to the hills around them, to the clouds gathering and the approaching touch of winter.

-------  
TBC


	4. Winter

**Comments:** Warning cliche ahead!!

Two Princes

Chapter 4 - Winter

--------

Kanaan

The despair was choking in the tent, the worried hollow eyes around him making him feel even worse. Their expressions held their pity, sympathy and concern for him. He nodded to the penultimate search party as they returned; they had found nothing. She was gone.

Halling entered at the back of the group, his face displaying openly all the grief and sympathy he felt. His large supportive hand rested down on Kanaan's shoulder.

"We found no trace of her," Halling said softly and Kanaan heard the whisper of sorrow around him. "Perhaps Sheppard's team will have found something," he added.

Kanaan found himself shaking his head, the tears burning at the back of his eyes to be expressed, but he would not let them free; he needed to be strong. Another supportive hand settled on his back, followed by another. "It is unlikely," he managed to say. "The snow and ice are too deep, too thick in the hills for…for even the Ancestor's technology to find her." Colonel Sheppard had spent the last two days searching from the skies as the other teams searched below.

She had disappeared from a hunting party, for they had been stretched across a wide area hoping to catch what little game there was out on the hills that had not already disappeared down into the valleys. She may have left the hills if she had found something. They had found no clue as to where she had gone, since the snow had fallen rapidly that first evening and by the time they realised she had gone missing the tracks there may have been had already been covered. They had spent the last two days scouring the hills and even beyond to the valleys, but there was no sign of her and the temperature was far below freezing. The truth was that she would have died that first night if she had been unable to reach shelter and gotten a fire going. They had seen no smoke, found no hint of a fire and they had searched every hut and cave that could have provided her with shelter. There was the suggestion that a Wraith had taken her, but why would only one attack? And Wraith usually left their victims out in plain sight to install fear in the human population. Maybe she had been swept up into a Dart, but then surely they would have heard it, and Kanaan and others with The Gift would have sensed any Wraith presence. No, it was unlikely that a Wraith had found her. However, there were other predators out in the forests. Most carnivores in the forests kept their distance from humans, but if she had been injured…

Outside there came the alien sound of the Jumper arriving and all eyes turned to the tent entrance. Halling moved forward and lifted the flap, snowflakes and terrifyingly cold air gusting in around him. Outside Kanaan could see the Jumper settling onto the snow and the back hatch began to slowly open. It took only a second to know they had not found her; Major Lorne's grim face as it was revealed was enough. Kanaan looked away; there was no more time. The hands on his shoulders squeezed briefly and then dropped away. Someone presented him with a steaming mug of tea. He pulled off his gloves, aware that he had not even gotten around to removing them. The mug was sharply hot against his numbed hands as he lifted it to his lips.

Sheppard and the other members of the last search party entered, each of them given a mug of tea as they entered and finally the entrance flap was closed again, sealing out the fierce cold and snow. Kanaan reached back and sat down on a chair, his body heavy with grief and regret. She was lost.

"How far out did you manage to scan?" Halling was asking.

"All of it," Sheppard replied, his voice strangely strong. "We searched over all the hills, and out across the valleys, but the snow is too thick, or there's something here that blocks the Jumper's sensors in the cold." The other alternative went unsaid, but Kanaan knew everyone was thinking it; that there was no life sign to detect. Another hand dropped on Kanaan's shoulder. The tent went silent, other than the soft sounds of people removing gloves and sipping hot tea.

"Thank you all," Kanaan managed to say. "For trying." He hung his head staring into the tea, until he remembered how strong Teyla was and he lifted his eyes to meet those around him. Soft, pain filled smiles of encouragement and support met him, but their tearful eyes did not help so he looked back down to the tea. Torren had lost his mother.

"We'll find her," Sheppard stated into the silence. "Just need some food, maybe wait till the moons are up till we head out again." The sympathetic silence deepened, but now Kanaan felt its focus shift onto Sheppard. Sheppard didn't understand.

Kanaan looked up at the tall man. "It has been over two days in this cold," Kanaan started, but words failed him. "She is lost." He almost broke with the last word.

There was a pause. "You're giving up?!" Sheppard exclaimed abruptly.

Kanaan looked up at the him. "There has been no sign of her, we have checked everywhere. Where else can she be?"

"Well I don't know or we would have found her already. She's out there, probably found some super sheltered place where the scanners can't reach her. If anyone can survive in this, it's Teyla."

For the first time Kanaan felt a burst of sympathy and even affinity with Sheppard. "Even if she had found such shelter she could not have survived this long."

Sheppard stared at him for a long moment almost as if he didn't understand the words Kanaan had spoken. "If she got a good fire going she could easily last this long."

"Not in these temperatures, Sheppard," Kanaan argued hating himself for being on this side of the argument. "There is nowhere else to search and no hope left. What else is there to do?"

Sheppard stepped forward, aggression abruptly pouring out of him. "To keep searching, Kanaan, that's what."

"And search where?" Kanaan demanded, heat filling his own voice now; why couldn't Sheppard understand?

"Anywhere, everywhere, even if I have to walk across every hillside and down each tunnel with the hand scanner, we'll find her," Sheppard pressed.

Kanaan stood up from his seat, aware of the atmosphere changing around him - where before his people had emanated support for him now he felt a different type of concern.

"There are no tunnels here," Kanaan stated clearly for Sheppard. "Do you not think I would have thought of that?! There is nowhere that she could have sheltered that we have not already checked." He paused. "When the snow and ice eventually melts we may find where she lay at the end." It was a weak hope, if predators hadn't gotten to her, or if the winter lasted too long there may never be any sign of where she had left to join the Ancestors. Tears filled Kanaan's eyes at the thought.

But, Sheppard's eyes were full of nothing but pure and simple anger. "I can't believe this! That's it, is it? You're all going to give up on her?" He asked of the tent.

"Sheppard, we know of life lived in harsh winters," Halling began, his hand settling on Sheppard's shoulder, but the man shook it off aggressively.

"I don't believe this. Teyla never would stop looking for any of you. She would be out there now crawling on her hands and knees to dig you out of a snow bank, but you're all going to leave her out there in the cold!" There was real emotion in Sheppard's voice now and Kanaan felt a pang of renewed jealousy and anger at the man.

Sheppard turned from the gathered Athosians and pointed at Kanaan aggressively. "And you, of all people, are going to give up on her?"

Kanaan drew his shoulders back and stood straight. "I am not giving up on her. But, there is nothing else to do. What else would you have me do other than comb over areas we have searched three or four times already?"

Sheppard strode the few steps between them, his finger jabbing an inch away from Kanaan's chest. "Yes, damn it. I expect you to check all the hills and valleys over and over again until we find her. That's what you should do, Kanaan." Sheppard's voice almost broke under the strain of his clear pain and anger. "You never stop looking, do you understand me! Never!"

With that Sheppard turned and thumped his half full mug down on a table, spilling some of it over the surface as he strode to the exit.

Still a little shocked from Sheppard's outburst, Kanaan watched the man pull aside the entrance flap. "You think you can find her by blind faith? By wishing it was so? Do you know how many people we have lost to the Wraith, to Michael?! We of all people know what it is like to lose those we care for and…and we know…we know the pain of it."

Sheppard turned at the exit. "Maybe you people have gotten too used to losing people, in giving up on them." There was a deepening of the silence in the tent.

"And you think you can find her by yourself do you? You think you can find her where no one else has? She is lost." Kanaan exclaimed, his emotions all too confusing now. He felt like Sheppard's righteousness was in some way stealing his own pain and grief.

"I'll find her," Sheppard stated before he turned and disappeared into the snow.

Major Lorne moved through the crowd as quickly as he could, but by the time he reached the exit they could already hear the sound of the Jumper heading away.

-------

John

He was shocked at the thin layer of tears across his eyes as he piloted the Jumper up and away from the Athosian tents. His heart hammered in his chest and a pain too sharp to ignore lanced through his chest. For a moment he wondered if he was having a heart attack, but after a few breaths it became clear that it was a more general emotional ache. Besides he couldn't let anything stop him now; she needed him. He couldn't believe that her own people would give up on her so easily! Anger swamped in to replace the pain and the niggling doubt that perhaps they were right and he had over-reacted out of grief.

No! She was out there and even if by the cruellest twist of fate she had not survived then he was still going to find her and make sure she was taken back to her home. She didn't deserve to be lost out in the snow and ice, no one aware of where she had suffered to her end.

Pushing aside those thoughts, he refocused on his anger and the conviction that she was alive. She was Teyla; of course she would find a way to survive. She could survive a month out here, let alone two days. But, one thing that was clear was that she was trapped in some way to not have been able to signal for help, or save herself. She would be trapped somewhere, maybe injured. Which meant that time was even more important. Giving up! What was wrong with those people?! And Kanaan! The man reported to love her - what crap!

Okay these thoughts weren't really helping him find her, so he needed to focus. He needed to start at the beginning, so he turned the chunky nose of the Jumper towards the hill which had been her last known location. Once again he scanned the hill and the two on either side and again got no large lifesigns. There was nothing larger than a bird or two down there, the larger animals having headed down into the thick forest covered valleys below. He already had some choice words on how the Athosians conducted their hunting parties, but that could wait.

He considered the map displayed on HUD and contemplated where she might be. If her life sign didn't register then it was being blocked by something and most likely that something would be the hill itself. Which meant either she was in the valley below or was in a very deep cave. John flew the Jumper around the hillside and then moved onto the next hills, studying the readings intently as he went.

It was some time before he set the Jumper down to land one hilltop over. As the hatch opened slowly the snow and cold rushed in. His coat, hood and face protector in place he made his way out into the cold, the lifesigns detector in one hand and a torch in the other. His sidearm was a comforting weight against his thigh as he headed out into the thick snow, the trees overhead swayed in the snowstorm spraying further snow over him as he made his way away from the Jumper. There was a flat topped area here, not far from where the hunting party could have roamed. It was a plateau with nothing across it, as the trees were gathered to one end only. He struggled on under those trees until he reached the open plateau. It was a wide open flat surface of snow and thick ice beneath he guessed. He paused to look out across the virgin snow, devoid of anything that could be seen on the surface. It was the only place he could think of that the Athosians might not have checked carefully enough, because it was easy to think there was nothing here. She may have passed out in the snow, or perhaps there were caves down the far side, he couldn't be sure. So, he stepped forward carefully, the sun's fading light behind him.

He kept his gaze switching between the scanner and the ground beneath his feet. He was almost halfway across it, his heart sinking at the flat even level of the snow, when his foot caught on something. He staggered against the wind to right himself and turned back with a fearful heart, dropping down to brush aside the snow as best he could to reveal what he had almost tripped over. Snow flew up against his face as he worked, getting around his sunglasses and face protector. His hand finally found something buried deep under the snow, and it was with great relief that he identified it as a tree branch. He pushed aside some more snow to reveal more, only to find a few other branches near it, all creating a layer on which the snow had built up over. He sat upright on his knees and stared down at them. He wasn't sure why but they bothered him. He pushed aside more snow to find a few more branches and pieces of tree debris and then abruptly some of it disappeared in front of him. He sat back abruptly and watched as the snow level shifted and then dropped away before him, revealing a fissure in the ground that had been hidden beneath the snow.

Hurriedly, but as carefully as he could, he swept aside the snow working forward until he felt the closest edge of the fissure through the ice encrusted snow, and he watched as more snow slipped down into the space below. He flattened himself onto his belly and peered over the edge looking down as best as he could with his torchlight, to see what looked like an old gulley disappearing far down inside the hill. He studied the sides and decided it had probably been eroded by water over time – some old run off tunnel perhaps from where a lake or something had been on the top of the hilltop. He angled the torch light down into the deep hole and thought he could make out the hint of a floor down there, but it was far away. It was far too steep an angle for him to safely get down on a rope and besides there was nowhere safe to anchor a rope up here.

He pointed the scanner down towards the drop, but there was still nothing, except that faint static that was really starting to piss him off. He looked back down the hole – she could have walked across this plateau and the fissure had been hidden by the snow laying over fallen branches. She could have fallen down there. He pulled down his face protector, the cold biting into his cheeks.

"Teyla!" He shouted down the hole as best he could, but the wind probably stole most of the sound. So he leant as far into the fissure as he safely could. " Teyla?" He waited, his torch light shinning right down into the twisted dark hole. Chances were even if she was down there that she wouldn't be able to hear him. It was a long drop as well, she could have been badly injured. Yet, he waited a minute, as he called her name again, hoping to see her abruptly appear, her face turned up to him in the torch light. But nothing moved down there except the snow which was falling down through the air around him.

He sat back on his heels. That tunnel had to run somewhere, because clearly a large amount of water had cut through the ground. It had to run off somewhere, right? And besides there was no obvious buildup of snow or water at the base of the hole, so it must have melted and run off somewhere. There could be a series of caves down there.

He hurried back to the Jumper, the wind now against his back which made it a little easier, or maybe it was because he now had a plan? He climbed into the Jumper's pilot seat and called up a scan of the area, then lifted the Jumper up into the sky to then head down the steep right hand side of the hilltop. He studied the hillside through the front window, looking between the HUD and the hill itself. About two thirds of the way down he saw the tiny holes in the steep sides that would have long ago made nice waterfall points for the run off water to escape through. He navigated the Jumper as close as he could, scanning as best he could, but still there was nothing. He pondered it for only a few moments before he decided to risk it. He pulled the Jumper back and set it down onto what seemed to be a steady enough nearby section of the hillside that was as flat a surface as he could find. The Jumper settled down and John waited to see if the platform would hold. Nothing happened and a few quick scans with the HUD seemed to suggest the rock under the ship was strong enough.

He pulled on the Jumper's survival backpack, adding a long length of rope as he headed out into the snow once again. The Jumper's hatch shut behind him and he looked up at the steep hillside stretching both above and below the platform. From here he could easily make his way along a ridge of rock to reach several of the holes that led into the side of the hill. He made it to the first entrance in no time, but it was too small for him to get inside, but he was able to peer inside and his torch highlighted a tunnel beyond. So, he moved onwards to the next. This one was big enough for him to get into and after climbing up over what appeared to be a dam that had built up of tree debris, he found himself in a large cavern. Tunnels ran off in different directions of varying sizes heading up into the heart of the hill.

He orientated himself as best he could and selected the tunnel closest to the direction he estimated the fissure had been. The scanner's screen glowed in his hand, his own life sign set at the very centre. He followed the natural tunnel upwards as best he could as it twisted up left and then right, splitting off at the top. He paused and turned the scanner and something flickered on the edge of the screen. He froze, eyes locked on the dot as he turned in that direction again, towards the left hand tunnel. It could be a bear or some other cave dwelling thing, maybe a large alien squirrel, he couldn't be sure, but it was a life reading. He climbed onwards, following the tunnel as it twisted upwards now, past another dam of branches and twigs and rocks.

He paused after who knew how long, breathing hard against the cold air as he checked the scanner again. The life sign was closer now, but there was no way to know clearly how much rock there was between him and it. He continued on, aware that the air was becoming colder and that the chill of the rock under his hands was biting in through his gloves. Then ahead of him he could see sunlight, glowing with that strange blue tinge of light on snow, ahead of him. He carried on, walking, climbing and crawling at one point to get up the opposite way to which the water had carved creating the tunnels.

He consulted the scanner and the life sign remained frustratingly distant which probably meant that it was up higher in the hill, which he had now upgraded to 'mountain' in his head. He climbed on heading upwards and abruptly the tunnel abruptly split into three directions and above him he could see the source of daylight that was lighting the massive narrow cave around him. The light shone down over two walls what were carved with ancient channels from the passage of water – it must have been a spectacular waterfall in its heyday, but now all there was above was the tiny snow encrusted hole at the top through which a few flurries of falling snow were drifting down towards John. He could see nothing but clouds though the hole and it clearly wasn't the same fissure that John had found above, but he must be on the right level now. He looked at the scanner and saw that the lifesign was minutely closer, but there were two tunnels before him that could lead to it, and as he had found during his climb that the tunnels didn't always flow in a straight line.

He pulled down his face protector and took a breath of the cold air. "Teyla!" He called out into the tunnels listening to the dull echoes it created. "Teyla!" He called once more, before he had to cover his face again. Despite being inside the hill and tunnels it felt as cold down here as up on the hill's surface, as the freezing air was channelled down from above. He checked the life sign again and then when his face was warm again he lowered the face protector again. "Teyla!"

He waited, but heard nothing, even when he pulled down his hood, which made him really cold, but he waited in case there was a weak call he had missed. Then came the rattling sound of a stone hitting a wall. He turned in the direction he thought he had heard it, though it was difficult to tell with tunnels. The sound came again.

"Teyla?" He shouted again. Another stone struck against a rock wall and this time he orientated himself and moved forward, his hood down so he could hear better, ignoring the sharp cold biting at his ears. He climbed up the next section of tunnel, which was now far steeper than before, and a few times he almost lost his footing. Eventually he reached the top and paused. There were no more stones rattling against stone walls, but there was a thud of a rock hitting rock. It repeated - a rhythm that couldn't be anything but created by a person. He had found her!

He turned into the left tunnel and sunlight once again glowed in from high above as he saw heaps of snow and branches scattered over the floor. There were footprints in the snow here, but he also saw several sharp bright red stains frozen into the snow.

He followed the footprints which had frosted into the layer of ice over the ground under his boots. They led to an opening cut into the rock through which he could see the faintest glow of a dying tiny fire across the small cave, and beyond the weak fire he saw the huddled slumped figure of Teyla. He saw her drop a heavy stone she had been hitting against the cave floor.

"Teyla!" He called to her as he hurried across the freezing cold cave. How she had managed to get a fire of any kind going in here he would never know. He dropped down by her side and leant over her as she rolled onto her back. Her hood obscured most of her face and he could see she had one of her arms out of her sleeve, pulled inside the coat she was almost lost inside in her attempt to huddle inside it.

"Teyla," he said as he caught her one gloved hand that reached for him. He saw her try to talk to him, but her teeth only chattered together and he could see her lips her pale blue with the cold. "Where are you hurt?"

She lifted her hidden arm within the coat. "Okay I need to open your coat, okay." He told her as he quickly pulled off his own gloves so that he could work the buttons of her coat. As it turned out they were not all closed which though helpful to him, would not have helped her keep warm. He got the coat open, keeping the edges close to keep in her warmth, what there was of it. Inside he saw the blood stains over her arm, and he reached in to peel back the sleeve of her top to reveal a field dressing. He looked around and saw that her back pack was behind her and inside would have been her old Atlantis issued first aid kit. He checked the dressing, pulling the edge aside carefully to try and see the wound.

He looked up at Teyla's pale, almost unconscious expression. "Is it broken?" He asked. She shook her head slightly. "Cuts?" She nodded. "Deep?" She shook her head. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" She shakily moved her leg beside him and he pulled the edges of her coat closed around her before he looked down at her closest leg. There was a rip in her trouser leg, and he found another dressing underneath. He could see blood staining through the dressing. "I need to change this now okay." He told her as he pulled apart the torn sides of the ruined fabric that was so weakly keeping her legs warm.

He shrugged off his own back pack and pulled out his own first aid kit. He cut through the dressing around her leg and was relieved to find that the bleeding had stopped in a long, but shallow, set of cuts and that her knee looked pretty swollen and bruised. It looked like she had tangled with some branches and stones on her way down the fissure. It could have been much worse. He quickly and efficiently wrapped a new dressing around the wounds. Her trousers were damp where the snow and cold had gotten inside the torn fabric. He set aside the first aid kit and leant back over her, looking directly down over her face. Her eyes barely focused on him. He reached into her hood and set his bare hands around her face.

"Teyla? Teyla?" She focused on him enough. "Did you hit your head?" She shook her head. "You sure?" He asked. She nodded, which was good as she clearly understood him. Her lips were far too pale with that worrying blue tinge and her face was cold in his hands. "I need to get you warmed up fast, okay." He told her calmly, the cold air hurting his own throat as he breathed it in. "Teyla?" She focused on his face with an effort. "I need you to stay awake okay?" Once she had nodded, he moved to his pack and pulled out the survival sleeping bag. He pulled it open and laid it on the flattest area near her meagre fire. He would get the fire going some more once she was inside the sleeping bag. He turned to her and began pulling off her boots. "I'm going to get your out of these clothes and into the sleeping bag. Once I get this fire going I'll join you. You'll be okay." He told her as calmly as he could around his own cold face and lips.

He reassured her over and over again as he pulled her out of her coat, her top and then sat her up in his arms, her entire body shaking with the cold, as he resorted to cutting away her torn trousers to free her of them quickly enough. Once she was free, dressed only her underwear, an undershirt and the two dressings, he pulled the sleeping bag over and with some assistance from her they managed to get her inside the sleeping bag. He zipped up the sides and pulled the pillowed end up around her head to keep her warm. Then he pulled out the tin foil like reflective blanket that would keep her even warmer and laid it over the sleeping bag.

He crouched beside her and reached in to check her pulse at her throat. Her heartbeat was slower and weaker than normal, but it was there. He tucked her inside the sleeping bag a little deeper and turned his attention to the cave. There were a few more sticks that she had clearly gathered up nearby. She must have been rationing them for there were still quite a few left. He crossed over to them and carried a good handful back to her fire. They were thin weak broken pieces of twig really and they were slightly damp, but would be better than the snow covered larger pieces further out in the tunnel. Tending the fire enough to get it going a little more, he held his own freezing hands over the struggling but growing flames. It still wasn't much, but it would stave off some of the deathly cold.

He turned to his pack, pulling out and opening up one of the Earth ration bars. He crouched down by Teyla and pulled off a bit and touched it against her mouth, encouraging her to eat it, she probably hadn't eaten in two days. She took the small morsel between her cold lips straight from his fingertips and he watched as she chewed slowly. Another piece later he gave her some of his water, which was warmer having been kept against his back. She sipped it and afterwards he was a little happier to see that her lips were already slightly less pale.

He turned back to his pack and pulled out anything else he might need, so that he could reach it easily if he needed. Then he began to pull off his own coat, the cold air making his own jaw tighten and his teeth try to chatter. Quickly he pulled off his boots, trousers and jacket, so in only his underwear and undershirt he unzipped the edge of the sleeping bag. Teyla was barely conscious and hardly stirred as he opened the sleeping bag and pushed his way in beside her, taking care to avoid her injuries. Once inside he zipped up the side again, pulling the zipper up as high as it went up and around them, then he reached out again to make sure the reflective cover was still in place.

He shifted round until he faced Teyla in the tight space. She was worryingly cold against him as he squeezed one arm under her and then pulled her up against him. She woke then enough to shift closer, her arms tucked up between them, and the chill of them against him almost stole his breath. He trapped both of her legs, and especially her feet, between his and pulled her as tightly as he could against him. Already he could feel the warmth building up in the sleeping bag from their combined body heat. Nothing would get her warm as quickly as this. He rubbed his hands over her back and arms, even down to her backside, to get her blood flowing and to create heat. She burrowed deeper into him as he worked and then he felt her sigh and rest more heavily against him as she surrendered fully to sleep.

He held her firmly against him, adjusting the pillow of the bag over their heads to keep in even more heat. Everything done he peered out again to check the fire and saw that it was still alive, though had already dimmed slightly. He needed to get her out of here tonight, or first thing in the morning otherwise she was in trouble. He tightened his hold on her and pressed his nose and lips into her hair inhaling the scent of her and told him self that she was alright. He had found her in time. She would be okay. It became a mantra for him over the next couple of hours as he drifted in and out of sleep, keeping her tightly close, whilst she slept on, perfectly still in his arms.

-------

Teyla

Warmth surrounded her as she drifted back out of the heavy blackness of her sleep. She felt wrapped up in a hot comfortable cloud, the warmth penetrating deeply into her. It clung around her, allowing only a few small spaces where she could feel a chill against her skin, but soon the warmth moved and the cold spaces were covered again.

She murmured at the sensation and as she did her mind began to resurface. Memories returned of falling snow, the ground giving way under her feet, falling, landing hard and tumbling further. Rocks and bark, cold dead leaves and sticks had followed her, digging into her, pushing the cold deeper, pain lancing out with it. Panic at the memories followed quickly afterwards. She was alone in the cave, so cold and unable to move more than a few metres without her bruised body and injuries limiting her. Endless openings of tunnels surrounded her, all dropping away deeper into the cave and she had had no light to follow them. She had tried to follow several tunnels, but had made no progress and had fallen over in a large pile of snow, causing her wounds to burst with pain. Too cold and bleeding she had sought somewhere to rest, to check her wounds and build a fire.

But, it had been so cold, and she had felt so tired and alone. Something had been stirring some distance away and she thought she heard the grunts of animal noises. Fear lingered at the ends of the cave, the cold almost a presence in there with her, pressing down over her leaching her strength and her confidence. Everything hurt.

Abruptly she leapt into full consciousness, crying out in fear and worry. Was she dying? Dead? Sharp needles of pain arrived into her awareness throughout her body, and she struggled against the restriction around her, only for the echoes of her nightmare to fade and John's voice became clear.

His voice surrounded her and she felt his arms around her, holding her against him. His heat became clear and she knew the needles of pain now for what they were; her blood returning to the cold areas of her body. She blinked her eyes again, realising belatedly that she couldn't see anything, because there was no light. John shifted and with him the constriction around her and a pale light spilled in around her head. Blinking rapidly with eyes that felt sore and eyelids that felt too tired to work, she focused on John so close that it was almost painful to focus on him.

Extra warmth pressed against one of her cheeks and she gasped at the intensity of it. His voice was there, but she couldn't quite make sense of it, until finally the light and what was probably his hand against her cheek made her focus on his moving mouth and as if clouds of confusion parted his words abruptly made sense.

"…you with me? Teyla?" He was asking and she heard the worry there. That concern helped motivate her into responding though she felt far too tired and weak.

"Ye…ssss," she managed to reply. It had been the first time she remembered speaking in days. She stared out at the light around his head and saw the depressingly familiar walls of the cave outside the warmth that surrounded her and John.

"You need some water?" He asked.

She was thirsty, but right now the tiredness was too consuming and she allowed herself to let her head relax down again. The warmth of his hand left her cheek and she was physically shuffled around until she could feel warmth under her head. Vague ill formed questions were lining up for her attention, but she was too tired right now. John would take care of her; he would protect her as she slept a little longer.

The next time she woke her body felt more comfortable, though the weakness she felt was clear to her even in those first moments of waking. Worry brought her quicker to consciousness, but then John's warmth against her subdued it all immediately. She was safe for now.

As she became fully aware of her body, she became aware of him pressing close to hers. She was aware that she could feel the expansion of his chest as he breathed, feel the beat of his heart against her, and as he swallowed she realised her face was pressed right up into the curve of his throat. As she moved her lips she could feel his skin against hers. A gentle salty taste accompanied the overwhelming scent of man and Atlantis. She remembered back to when he had arrived in the Athosian camp lost from his people and she had embraced him. Those scents had brought such relief and yes even pleasure. He had found her in the caves.

Reality all slotted into place and she pulled her face from John's throat and felt him react immediately, pulling back from her, breaking their upper bodies apart slightly. Her head fell backwards slightly, her neck too tired to support it, until she felt what felt like one of his arms behind her. There was more light around the top of the dark place in which they were entwined and she squinted up at it and then at John as he was turning to look at her.

"Teyla?" His voice was the softest she had ever heard, but was full of command that suggested he had been calling to her a lot without response. She blinked and nodded her head as best as she could.

He moved around some more and abrupt cold air entered into their space, but though it was not welcomed it did help to clear her mind somewhat. She saw a metal bottle of water appear and he was lifting up her upper body. The chilled rim of the open bottle pressed against her mouth and she managed to get one of her hands moving to help hold the bottle and she took small little sips of the cold water.

The bottle was removed and she heard the crackling of a ration bar packet. Suddenly she missed Rodney with a powerful passion. He had always loved to eat those bars and she hadn't realised how she had grown to associate that sound with him. The torrent of sadness of the loss of Rodney, and of Ronon almost overwhelmed her, until the soft touch of a piece of ration bar was rested against her lower lip. She took it in and chewed on it slowly and swallowed it automatically. Her stomach responded dramatically that she was very hungry and she reached up through what was now clearly a sleeping bag around her and John for the ration bar. She heard a pleased sound from John as she held the bar in weak rather shaky hands and began to eat more.

One of John's hands was rubbed up and down her back, the warmth of the touch comforting. She looked up at John as best as she could whilst keeping as close to his warmth as she could. He had been saying encouraging things up till now that had become a background music as she drank and finished the bar. The food was warming inside her and she felt more refreshed, though still so tired and weak. She worked to pull the ration bar's packet down to expose the last of the bar inside and licked her lips.

"How…long?" She managed to ask him.

Both of his arms were around her, the sleeping bag even more constrictive around them now they were sitting up in it.

"You've been gone a little over two days. It's been," he pulled one of his arms from around her, twisting his wrist up between them to see the face of his watch. "About three hours since I found you." She felt like it had been a lifetime ago when she had heard his voice echoing through the cave. Her weak calls had barely carried so she had resorted to throwing small pebbles against the wall, and when that energy was gone she had lain on her side and dropped one large stone to the floor over and over again to make enough noise. He had found her.

"Thank….you…John," she managed to whisper to him. "Found…me." Her voice was as weak as her body, but she could feel her throat warming. His hands returned to rubbing up and down her back, now including her bare arms as well.

"No problem," he replied, but she knew she was not in good shape. If she had been alone any longer… "If you can manage it we need to get moving. I've got to get you back to the camp as quickly as we can." Only then did she realise that he was alone.

"Others?" She managed to ask as she finished the last of the ration bar, her jaw aching from the chewing.

"I'm the only one in this area," he replied quickly. "I've got the Jumper at the bottom of the hillside, but there's no way out but back down through the tunnels and caves. I've got a spare pair of clothes in the survival pack, we'll get you in them and we'll be out of here in no time." She was aware of the edge of worry his voice, sharp and slightly shaky. Or perhaps he was cold as well. But, she felt nothing but warm. He took the empty ration bar packet from her cold fingers and she leant forward back against his chest and throat, drawing in his warmth. She would be happy to stay here. His hands moved over her back again, but it all made her feel even sleepier. He smelt so good, felt so warm. He had found her and he was here.

"You feel up to getting out of this place?" He asked his voice loud now she was against him so tightly. She nodded against him, but the prospect of leaving his warmth and going back into the cold of the cave was not appealing. She felt as if something had drawn away every slither of energy from her body leaving her empty, but at least with John she was warm.

The zip thundered nearby and suddenly she was bathed in cold. She huddled against it, her body shaking again. John pulled her back against him, now free of the sleeping bag. She watched his arm stretch out and he pulled his pack closer, and then thick warm clothing from inside. She reached out with a cold pale arm and tried to help. Together they got her into the trousers, but he had to pull the top over her and push her feet back into her boots. All of the clothing felt chilled, but it would all trap her body heat, but nothing was as warming as John's body had been in the sleeping bag. She looked down at the sleeping bag and wished she could just climb back in.

John returned to her side and helped her into her coat before he pulled on his own clothes again and pushed his thickly socked feet into his boots. As he did so she drank some more water and tried to help tidy up the survival things into his pack and hers, but it was too much effort. Her arm and leg pained her and her coordination was weak. She had been lucky though for she could move all her fingers and toes and thanks to John's warmth the deep chill she had felt had subsided somewhat.

John crouched down by her as he returned everything back into his pack, pulled it on and then helped her into her one. The extra light weight against her back would help keep her a little warmer. "Right, you ready?" He asked her. There wasn't much light in here, but she could see his concern behind his forced calm. She nodded. He had to help her to stand up, and together they crossed the cave slowly.

It took a long time to work their way down the tunnels and through the caves. John had to hold her up and assist her along most of the way, and she clung to him as she had never clung to anyone before. He was a pillar of strength for her, talking to her encouragingly though it no doubt cost him warmth to do so. Eventually after too short a time what little energy she had was almost spent and she could feel unconsciousness creeping back. She struggled against it, denying the darkening of her vision and the lightness of her head.

They reached the base of the tunnels and a large cavern opened up around them. She needed to stay awake, to be helpful to him, but she was too weak, too cold. Her legs gave way, but he caught her. The cold cavern floor pressed against her legs and she sat as John pulled off her back pack and then she was swept up into his arms. The cavern's rocky ceiling moved through her vision, her focus dimming in and out. The movement of John's body against hers was all she was sure of, as time expanded and contracted around her. She was so tired. Then cold open air hit her face and she opened her eyes enough to see the snow falling and feel it falling against her face. For a moment she enjoyed it, but then it was too cold and she turned her face in towards John.

She was aware of him struggling at one point, but there was nothing she could do to help. She tried vainly to move a couple of times, but her body would not respond. Then the open air became that of an enclosed space. She managed to get her eyes open just as she felt a bench under her back. Then the sound of the Jumper hatch closing and through over head lights she saw him lean over her, his hood pushed back from his face and she smiled. The Jumper. He smiled back and he might have been saying something, but she couldn't focus on the words she was too tired. Warm air was filling the space around her and then he was gone.

She felt the subtle sensation of the Jumper lifting, but that was it before she slid once again into deep sleep.

------

Kanaan

The sound of the Jumper could be heard in the distance and Kanaan emerged from his tent to see it descending through the falling snow. It was very late, but most of the camp was still awake it seemed, since faces appeared immediately out of the other tents. He wondered if they believed Sheppard needed them, or perhaps even that Sheppard could somehow, against all odds, find Teyla still.

He watched the Jumper land in the centre of the camp, which had become its regular spot since the search for Teyla had begun. Right now all Kanaan could see was that Sheppard had parked it right in the middle of the camp, reducing the space. Yes, it was an irrational anger at Sheppard.

From Kanaan's right Lorne appeared, his coat pulled tightly around him as he ran towards the Jumper. Halling had also appeared, waiting close by. Yes, they were all here for Sheppard.

The top of the hatch cracked open and began to lower. Lorne had stood back enough for there to be enough space for it to open. From this angle Kanaan could see into the Jumper as the hatch slowly opened and he saw the top of Sheppard's head. Lorne turned away from the Jumper abruptly and shouted something through the falling snow to Halling. Kanaan watched Halling hurry forward. Had Sheppard been hurt in his search?

The hatch had lowered enough now for Kanaan to see Sheppard's shoulders, but it was the hooded head leant against his shoulder that drew Kanaan's focus. He stepped from his tent into the open cold of the snowflake filled air and watched in amazed desperateness as more of Sheppard was revealed and the rest of the shape held in his arms. Kanaan stepped forward – Sheppard had found her! But, was she..? She moved slightly in Sheppard's arms, not much, but enough for Kanaan to be sure she was alive. People began to start calling out to each other as Kanaan moved across the open space towards the Jumper.

The hatch lowered to the ground and Sheppard stepped out, Teyla held in his arms, one of her arms slung loosely around his shoulders. Sheppard: the hero.

-------  
TBC


	5. Late Winter

Two Princes

Chapter 5 - Late Winter

------

Kanaan

It had been half a season since Teyla had almost been lost, and now the icicles outside in the camp were starting to melt. The days were still cold, the air harsh to breathe at times, but there was more heat to the sun when it was at its peak.

Kanaan moved through the cold towards their tent. The snow had become slush across the camp and Kanaan suspected that any early spring rains in the future would turn the camp into a muddy mess.

He pushed aside the tent entrance flap and was greeted by silence inside. His eyes dropped to the mat where Torren was usually to be found playing and crawling around. Teyla had built a small pen that they could set up around that area to prevent Torren from crawling out of the tent without their notice. Now though, the pen was closed up against the wall and Torren was absent.

Teyla's hunting jacket lay over one chair and he moved further into the tent to discover her combing her damp hair, clearly having just washed.

"Teyla," he greeted her and she smiled. "You went out with the hunting party?" He asked.

"Yes, new game has begun to return to the hills from the valleys again," she replied as she looked away from him and back to the small mirror she had brought with her from Earth. He looked down at her turned shoulder and couldn't help but feel the distance.

"I thought you said you were reluctant to go back up to the hills," he pointed out.

She laughed a little. "I said that in the days following my accident, Kanaan." The smile she gave him seemed to be slightly condescending, but he tried to ignore that reaction. It had not been that long ago since she had been returned to him as if from death. Saved by the sole efforts of Colonel Sheppard. The memory of the man stepping out from the Jumper with Teyla in his arms was unlikely to be one Kanaan would ever forget. The shame Kanaan had felt since that day had been a heavy weight for him to bear. He should have had more faith in Teyla. He had almost let her die – all of them had. There had been a strained atmosphere throughout the camp after her return. Perhaps everyone, like him, had felt the emotional weight of the fact that they had given up on her, as Sheppard had so angrily pointed out before he had gone and actually found her.

Since that day, and especially through her short recovery, Kanaan had felt guilty and shameful of himself. He had explained himself to Teyla once she was well and she had been understanding and told him that he was not to blame, that she would have done the same. But, she would not have he knew – she would have done as Sheppard had and scour the entire planet looking for someone else. Though, Kanaan had also entertained the idea that perhaps it was because it had been Teyla that Sheppard had been so determined. Kanaan wondered if he had been the one lost, whether Sheppard would have been so passionate about finding him as he had been Teyla.

They were twisted dark thoughts that bothered Kanaan. So, he had tried to make it clear to Teyla how much she meant to him, how sorry he was, but it seemed that something had been broken. She had absolved him of guilt, but he carried it anyway. There was a distance between them and despite all Kanaan did all he felt from her was polite distancing. Since they had returned to live with their people he had been battling to reconnect with her, but the distance had just seemed to grow. Now, with the events of her rescue and his failure to save her, he felt that she was even further from his grasp. But, when he attempted to speak to her about it, she would simply say the same things – that she forgave him, that he should not blame himself and that she was happy living back with their people. But, some deep emotional damage had been done between them and he had no idea how to fix it. And she did not seem inclined to help him. It had begun to annoy him.

"Why did you not tell me you were going hunting?" He asked.

She set down her comb and looked back at him along her beautiful shoulder. "It was a last moment decision since the game was only just spotted, and besides I assumed others would have told you."

"And what if you had been lost again? How would we have known where you were?"

She frowned lightly. "I was with others and plenty in the camp knew where I was, Kanaan." She reached out and touched a hand against his, but the action felt slightly patronising, like how an adult reassures a child. "You need not worry that I will be hurt again. I will look where I walk from now onwards." There was a smile on her lips as she said that. Though she had been able to laugh about her close brush with death, Kanaan had not, and her words only reminded him of Sheppard again. He had heard Sheppard say to her repeatedly since to 'remember to look where you're walking this time' when she headed off somewhere. It had clearly become a joke between them, but Kanaan could not see the funny side. She had almost been lost!

"Forgive me for being concerned for you," he replied grumpily, regretting it instantly. He should not react this way, after all he had almost given up on her. A familiar look of forced patience settled over her features.

"Kanaan, I appreciate that you are concerned for me, but you are not my guardian."

The words were rather harsh and Kanaan felt them as a near physical blow. "I am only worried for you."

She nodded patiently. "I am fully capable in looking after myself when hunting."

"You almost died in that cave," he pointed out.

"But, I was keeping close with the hunting party today. It was a lesson for all of us to keep the lines closer and to keep in constant contact when the weather is heavy." She had already moved away from the conversation and Kanaan squashed down his bitter feelings again. "We have all learnt from what happened and it is time to move on." She had said this several times before, but Kanaan couldn't help but feel that things had changed much more than that.

To keep the peace he nodded and moved away from her, heading into the main area of the tent, looking down to where his son usually played. A hug with his son would help him feel better. "Where is Torren?" He asked her.

"He is with Colonel Sheppard," Teyla replied. Of course he was, Kanaan thought.

"I will collect him then," Kanaan replied as he moved towards the exit. He would fetch his son from Sheppard and enclose his family around him for this evening.

------

Sheppard

John moved away from his seat as he spotted Torren crawling towards a break in the circle of chairs in the centre of which the play area had been set up. John picked Torren up, his little arms still waved in a crawling motion for a few seconds. The boy cried out grumpily.

"He's got some good speed to him," Lorne said with a laugh as John carried Torren back to the centre of the play area, which John had created out of a circle of chairs with thick mats inside to keep off the cold from the ground.

"He's crafty as well," John replied. Despite the fact that Torren could stand and walk for short distances, Torren seemed to prefer crawling, and heading off on his own adventures.

Lorne was sat on the outside of the chairs turned towards the landscape, a handcrafted easel set up before him. John sat back down on his chair and looked at the canvas Lorne had made. The view beyond it was beautiful, the snow melting away exposing the bare branches of the trees around them. "You need to paint faster to catch the snow before it's gone."

Lorne nodded as he dipped his brush in the white paint. "It's going to be almost a year you know, since we got here." His tone had been conversational, but the emotion was clear behind it.

John nodded as he looked away from the forming painting and back down at Torren, who was looking back up at him with an assessing look. John suspected Torren was planning another escape attempt. There were times when John felt that Torren was considerably more clued into the world than he should be at his age. John returned Torren's look and the kid laughed lightly before turning his attention to his wooden blocks, but John wasn't fooled – an escape attempt would soon follow, he was sure of it. God knows what Torren was going to be like when he was running around! That thought led back to Lorne's comment.

"We can't be all that sure that a year on this planet equals a year back home," John pointed out. But, then they had already worked out that the days were longer here, by their estimate over the seasons, a day on this planet was roughly 28 hours by their still functioning watches. John hadn't bothered to count days here, and it appeared neither had Lorne.

"Then we could already have been here longer than a year," Lorne pointed out. There wasn't any sadness to the man's voice, just an observation. But, when looking at Torren John suspected that the years were shorter here. By Earth standards Torren had been ten months old when Teyla had left Earth, since he and Lorne had been trapped here, and there was no way Torren was almost two years old yet development wise.

"Well, it's probably passing fast for you, what with your new company," John joked as he watched Lorne expertly touch some white paint to the canvas capturing the last vestiges of snow clinging to a distance branch. Lorne's cheek twitched despite his concentration.

"You're just jealous," the Major replied. Their friendship continued to be one of John's many solaces here. Though, there was a touch of regret in John's heart. Lorne appeared sometimes to have settled in here a lot more completely than John. John looked back down to Torren who was pushing over his built up tall tower of blocks. Giggles filled the air.

"Just making an observation," he remarked innocently to Lorne, looking back to see more snow had appeared across the canvas. He saw the smile on Lorne's face.

"Fera is good company, yes," Lorne replied.

John smiled. "Yes, the company, that's the part you enjoy."

Lorne laughed, but John could see the touch of red to his cheek. John looked away to see that the latest escape plan was being executed. Torrens's little arms and legs were pumping as he made his way under the furthest chair from John. It only took two strides for John to reach the chair and he peered over the top of it just as Torren appeared from under it. The baby realised he had been made so looked up and smiled at John.

"And where are you going?" John asked. Torren stayed under the chair, perhaps hoping that would discourage John from pulling him out from under it. A large baby smile didn't fool John. "You want to crawl out across the cold ground and get trodden on do you?" John asked.

"Yes!" Torren barked to John's amusement.

"I don't think so," John replied and reached under the chair, wrapping his hands around Torren's middle. He could feel the tension in the boy and knew grumpy crying would soon follow, so as he pulled the boy out from under the chair he tickled his little sides. The crying turned into giggles and then loud boisterous laughter as John leant down and blew a raspberry against Torren's belly. Small hands gripped his hair tightly and pulled.

"Ouch!" John replied as he sat up and Torren cried "more!" brightly. So John picked the boy up and blew another raspberry against his neck as he carried Torren back to the blocks. But, once John put Torren down he tried to crawl away again, back towards the furthest chair. John caught him up again.

"Look if you're going to try it again at least try another angle of attack," John explained to him as he sat Torren down again. "You need to keep them guessing, try different things," John instructed with humour as he sat down himself on the thick mat, using his legs as a subtle pen around the boy.

"Not sure you should be giving him tips," Lorne pointed out.

John gathered Torren's blocks and tried to renew the boy's interest in them, but had to drop them to stop Torren from climbing over his knee. Torren cried out unhappily, the sound defiant and frustrated.

"Now don't take that tone with me," John told him. Torren glared up at him, his lower lip protruding in an unhappy pout. "You think that's going to work on me? I've withstood McKay temper tantrums," John told Torren, and he heard Lorne snigger. Just the mention of Rodney's name brought that sad feeling back again for John. Friends never to be seen again.

John dropped all the blocks on the mat between him and Torren and began to build them up himself. Torren tried to pretend he wasn't interested at the small castle John was constructing, but it was one of his favourite games still. John got the castle pretty high before Torren reached forward and hit the blocks tumbling them down and the boy laughed haughtily.

"I heard him crying, is he alright?" Kanaan abruptly demanded from behind John, making him jump. John looked around in surprise at Torren's father who was on the outside of the ring of chairs and practically glaring at John.

"He's fine, just got grumpy because I wouldn't let him crawl off into the snow and slush," John explained with humour, trying to keep the conversation light.

He and Kanaan had not been getting on that well since the night when John had found Teyla. Before, they had been content with politely ignoring each other, but now there was a definite atmosphere between them. Where once John had felt it was all on Kanaan's side, being jealous or whatever about Teyla, now John knew he was half responsible for the atmosphere. Since that argument in front of a large number of the Athosians, John couldn't help but respond to Kanaan's attitude. They hadn't argued since, but it was clear that Kanaan was holding a grudge. Well, so was John, after all Kanaan had given up on Teyla. If John hadn't been in the camp Teyla would be dead and Kanaan, who should have been out in that snow every minute of every hour looking for her, had been warm in a tent feeling sorry for himself. Kanaan had written Teyla off, and try as he could John couldn't let that drop. It was unforgivable in John's opinion. Not, that he was going to have it out with Kanaan, but he would no longer just ignore Kanaan's attitude. The tension was building between them, but John had been making an effort not to lose his temper again. Teyla would not be impressed and besides he wasn't going to let Kanaan get to him that much.

So, it was with a calming breath that John turned back to Torren, not without noticing the frown Lorne sent Kanaan's way. Torren had noticed his father and pointed up to him and said "fater" which John tried not to find amusing.

"Father," John corrected Torren as the boy grinned up at Kanaan, but made no move towards him.

"He can play in the snow if he wishes," Kanaan said.

John looked round at Kanaan. "He did this morning, but you hardly want him crawling around on the camp ground," he pointed out patiently. Torren gripped one of John's hands, using it to leaver himself up onto his feet. John adjusted his hold on Torren automatically supporting him as the boy stood and walked the couple of steps closer to John, before he pointed up at Kanaan again.

"Fater!" Torren cried loudly.

Torren practically in his face, John wasn't really able to stop the smile this time and he was sure Kanaan saw it. He schooled his features as he looked back up at the Athosian. "You here to pick him up?"

"Yes," Kanaan replied. "Teyla and I are going to stay in our tent tonight." John wasn't all that sure why that comment bothered him so much. Why should Kanaan need to give him so much information other than to try and make a point of some kind? John decided to ignore it, so he wrapped one arm fully around Torren and stood up with him in his arm.

"Okay, short stuff, off you go," he said to Torren as he stepped to the chairs and handed the boy over to his father who stood on the other side. Torren grumbled again, squealing his disapproval, though he gripped tightly to his father's coat. Kanaan bounced Torren lightly. "He's been a bit grumpy today," John said in an attempt to make Kanaan feel a bit better about the fact that his son was crying in his arms.

"Yes, I heard," Kanaan replied rather sternly. "Are those all his toys?" Kanaan nodded down towards the collection at the centre of the mat.

John bit the inside of his lip with the retort he wanted to give, like maybe Kanaan should know the answer to that question already. "Sure," was all he said instead as he moved to where the toy bag was stored under one chair. He took a patient breath as he crouched down and began gathering up Torren's toys, annoyed at Kanaan for just standing and watching, though Torren had decided he was very upset that his play time was over. The squeals were unhappy and Kanaan's attempts thus far to calm him were unsuccessful.

John closed up the toy bag and moved towards Kanaan and Torren. As he handed over the bag he spoke to Torren. "Hey, little Buddy no need to cry, we'll play again tomorrow." Torren paused in his protests to listen.

"I am not sure if you'll be needed to sit with him tomorrow," Kanaan replied offhandedly.

"Just trying to be helpful," John replied, managing somehow to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"Yes, as you always are," Kanaan muttered as he adjusted the now quiet Torren in his arm.

"What's that supposed to mean?" John asked before he could stop himself. Behind him John thought he heard the sound of a paintbrush being put down.

Kanaan studied him for a long moment and John saw the consideration going on in the other man's head. He apparently decided not to follow through with it as he replied simply "Nothing."

However, John's back was up now and suddenly he wasn't going to take anymore of Kanaan's resentfulness. "You meant something, let's hear it." John's heart was speeding up and he realised how much he wanted to have this out.

Kanaan seemed to respond to the challenge, rather than back down as John had half expected him to - giving up was his thing after all. But, Kanaan stood up straighter, fire in his eyes. "Do not behave innocent, I know what this is all about," Kanaan stated.

"What is it about, Kanaan?" John asked. "That I found Teyla?" John edged slightly closer to the chairs that separated him from Kanaan. John was idly aware that a few faces were turning towards them across the open space behind Kanaan.

"Yes, you want to hold that over me, do you not?" Kanaan stated.

"Hold what over you? That I did what you should have done?"

Kanaan drew in a sharp breath, his nostrils flaring. "Of course that is all that you are interested in, is it not?" He said sarcastically. "Wanting everyone to appreciate you, so you can get all that you want."

John shook his head at him, and gestured to the camp around them. "What I want? Did you miss the fact that I've been cut off from my world, that there's no way back? You think that's what I want?!" John demanded.

A few people were gravitating closer behind Kanaan, keeping back, but ready to intercede. John heard Lorne moving around the chairs towards them.

"I think you guys need to calm down a little," Lorne suggested, but it was lost in Kanaan's reply.

"Well, maybe finally you will know what it is like to have your home world taken from you."

That cut John - he had not been expecting that. Lorne paused and turned to Kanaan. "Hold on now," Lorne began, now shifting his role from mediator to joining the argument.

"No, I will not," Kanaan argued back with Lorne, but his eyes never left John. An Athosian, Hakon, arrived behind Kanaan and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Kanaan, does not mean that, we in no way blame those from Earth for what happened to Old and New Athos," Hakon said calmly.

Kanaan shook off Hakon's hand and instead turned and handed Torren over to the man. Hakon took the boy and someone else moved forward to take Torren out of harm's way. John was only vaguely aware of all of this, for he was too angry right now to look at anything but Kanaan.

"This has nothing to do with that, you're pissed because I made you look bad in front of your people and Teyla," John stated.

Kanaan pushed forward in response, leaning over the back of the chairs between them. "We had all agreed that there was nothing else we could do to find her."

"Well, you were wrong, weren't you?!" John pointed out angrily.

Kanaan's face paled at that, but the argument was far from over. He narrowed his eyes at John as Hakon's hand landed on his shoulder again. "You think I do not know what this is really about?" Kanaan demanded.

"What, Kanaan? Tell me," John pushed. Lorne beside him had turned towards him, his shoulder very so slightly between John and Kanaan. John sensed Lorne's request for calm rather than heard anything said.

"This is about Teyla," Kanaan stated. "That you want her for yourself and you think you are better than me!"

Heat flushed through John at the words, but he didn't let Kanaan win with that. "Better at saving her life: yes!"

Kanaan grasped the back of the chairs between them and shoved them aside, knocking over several more which momentarily meant that those who would help to break him and John apart had to step back to avoid the falling furniture. Kanaan had done it for show John was sure, so he was the one who stepped forward glaring at Kanaan.

"How is that a bad thing, Kanaan?" John demanded. "How is saving her life a bad thing for me to have done?"

"You think you can get rid of me, you are sorely mistaken!" The furniture overcome the others pressed back in, Lorne's hand on John's shoulder was secure, but light. Hakon and another pulled gently on Kanaan's arms.

"I think we should all calm down," Hakon said. Kanaan ignored him, or either didn't hear him.

"I'm not out to get rid of you," John told Kanaan plainly, waiting a beat before adding "You're doing a good enough job of it by yourself."

That had gotten to Kanaan, and John saw the first true flickers of violence in the man's eyes. John felt the power in his body ready to be unleashed. He couldn't remember being so ready for a fight in his life.

"You know nothing about Teyla and me," Kanaan responded through a tightly clenched jaw. "You think you are better for her than I am?"

The arrogance of that statement angered John further. "If it was up to you, she'd be dead!" John shouted.

How dare Kanaan think that he was Teyla's best choice, as if she should be grateful!

"Okay, that's enough," Lorne stated, now pulling back on John's shoulder and someone else was pulling on John's other arm. Kanaan was being subjected to the same treatment, but John kept his eyes locked with Kanaan's. That was until Teyla's voice cut through the crowd.

"What is going on?" She called, clearly concerned and slightly out of breath as if she had hurried through the camp.

That broke most of the battle in John and he looked away from Kanaan. The small crowd parted for Teyla as she neared them.

"Nothing," John told her with what he hoped was a calm enough voice.

"Nothing," Kanaan repeated from where he had been pulled back by his people.

Teyla reached them and her eyes fell to the fallen chairs around them. Lorne and Hakon bent down to start righting the furniture. "Nothing, just an accident," Lorne told her, but it was clearly a weak explanation.

Teyla didn't take the clear and obvious excuse that Lorne had presented her. "It does not look like an accident."

John felt the first tinges of embarrassment at his behaviour and couldn't meet her eyes for a few moments, so he reached down and helped pick up a chair.

"A minor disagreement, nothing more," Kanaan told her.

John looked back to her, to see her look of disbelief.

"Just a difference of opinion," John tried to reassure her, keeping his tone level. Somehow he knew that despite their disagreements, both he and Kanaan equally didn't want to upset Teyla. At least Kanaan had that going for him.

"Yes, nothing more," Kanaan added, confirming John's thought.

Teyla frowned at John and then at Kanaan. It was clear she didn't believe either of them, but neither was she going to push them.

"Very well. Could I speak with you for a moment, Kanaan?" she said.

Okay, maybe she wasn't going to push it with John in front of everyone, but Kanaan was about to get a grilling. Though John felt a moment of amusement at Kanaan's expression of worry, John then realised Teyla was going to hear only Kanaan's side of the argument, if Kanaan chose to share it with her. John suspected Teyla wasn't going to just let it go.

John watched as Teyla turned away, one of her eyebrows lifting at him which seemed to say that she expected better from him. Chastised with only a look, John watched Kanaan follow her back into the camp on their way to their tent. John turned from the image to see Lorne watching him.

"Sorry," John muttered.

Lorne shrugged dismissively. "Not like it hasn't been coming."

John nodded, and turned his attention to clearing up the play area, his body filled with the after-effects of adrenaline in his system and in his mind he replayed the argument and the things Kanaan had said.

----------

Teyla

Teyla walked purposefully through the tents towards her and Kanaan's tent, not looking back at him following along behind her. As she passed Halling's tent she saw Torren in there with him and Halling nodded, clearly happy to remain babysitter for a short while longer.

She reached their tent and moved through the entrance without a word. She was still rather stunned at what she had seen; John and Kanaan facing off amidst a clutter of fallen chairs, her people physically separating them apart. She hadn't heard any of the words used, other than John's last shout concerning her being alive.

As she moved further into the tent she heard Kanaan closing down the entrance flap behind them. She didn't turn round yet, instead she picked up her tea cup where she had left it when Fera had called her out in alarm. Teyla couldn't remember the last time she had heard John's voice that angry and neither could she ever remember seeing Kanaan physically aggressive towards anyone. In a way perhaps she should have known something was going to happen between the two men. Since John had found her in that cave and she had learnt of the altercation between John and Kanaan on searching for her.

Since her near death, Kanaan had been making a massive effort to make her feel loved and lingered around her to the point where it was making her feel smothered. He also now seemed to constantly wear that expression which said that he was anxious and no doubt feeling bad about how he had been unwilling to keep searching for her.

Teyla had told him she understood and she did. She knew from his perspective and the others, that she had been believed lost. They had looked everywhere they had thought to look, had spent two long days and nights out in the bitter cruel weather trying to find her. She understood why they had thought her lost and she knew she should not judge Kanaan for his decision. When she had lain in the healing tent for two days following her rescue, Kanaan had sat beside her all the time, holding her hand and reassuring her. But, somehow, since then she had been unable to see anything but regret in his eyes. Regret that he had been wrong. She had tried to reassure him, but clearly the distance was widening between them over this and it needed to be addressed, especially if it had led to Kanaan and John arguing so publically with each other.

She turned to Kanaan now and watched as he removed his thick winter coat, draping it over the hooks near the entrance. He looked back at her and she felt rather pleased to see the slightly shameful expression on his face.

"What was that about, Kanaan?" She asked him.

She watched him quickly consider what to say. "We had a disagreement. I apologise. I should not have lost my temper and made such a spectacle."

"I do not care how many people witnessed it, Kanaan, I care that the two of you were fighting so fiercely."

"We were not fighting," Kanaan argued as he moved away from the entrance and dropped down onto a chair facing her.

"Do not argue semantics, Kanaan. What happened?"

He rubbed a hand over his face before he looked back up at her. "Colonel Sheppard made a comment and I could not let it pass. It was foolish of me to let him pull me into an argument."

Teyla was instantly suspicious of him, for she knew it was a rare day indeed when John began an argument. Yet, neither was it in Kanaan's character to fight over anything. He was usually a level headed, calm man. His opinion she valued, however things had changed. She decided to push him.

"From the last words Colonel Sheppard shouted I assume you two were arguing about when I was lost."

He looked back up to her and she saw a change in him, clearly now it was out in the open he was ready to talk about it. "Yes, but he started it, Teyla."

She shook her head at him and dropped down into a chair of her own, the stretch of the tent between them. "I think we are all mature enough to know that it takes more than one person to have an argument." He nodded at that.

"He threw the fact that I was wrong in my face again," Kanaan replied.

Teyla frowned at him. "Again?"

Kanaan sighed heavily. "He has been holding it against me all this time, judging me over it." She suspected that it was Kanaan who was holding it against himself.

"I told you I do not blame you for your decision," she told him patiently.

He narrowed his eyes at her across the tent. "There is no need to speak to me like I am a child, Teyla."

Taken back by his hostility she frowned at him. "And I do not care to be spoken to like that, Kanaan. Or are you planning to fight with me as well?"

He looked away. "No, I apologise."

"Regardless as to how you think Colonel Sheppard feels about your decision…" she began.

"I know how he feels about it," Kanaan interrupted. "He told me plainly today. At least now he has said the words. And how am I to repair my decision?" He asked.

"Colonel Sheppard will calm down as well. It is all in the past," she told him.

He looked straight at her. "But, it is not, is it?"

She sighed. "There is no point in us dwelling on what has happened."

"You do blame me," Kanaan said.

She rubbed cool fingers against her forehead as she tried to work out what to say to him. The truth was of course that he was right. How could she not feel slightly bitter that a man who proclaimed to love her gave up on finding her when she was lost in the cold winter landscape fighting for her life? Emotions swelled up in her chest. She had tried not to think on this, for it was painful for her.

Several people from the camp had approached her after her return and had confessed that they felt ashamed for not continuing the search. She understood and made sure they each went away without such guilt on their shoulders. She thought that perhaps it had been a good experience for her people to learn, for it was something to be learnt from those from Earth – that no one is left behind. Her people had spent too many generations with people frequently disappearing in the woods to the hands of the Wraith. She understood their mistake and had forgiven them.

Yet, she realised, when it came to Kanaan she could not so easily forget. He said that he loved her, that he wanted to spend his life with her and had even suggested they have another child, yet when the moment was truly upon her, he had not been there for her. Instead it had been John who had argued with them all, who had sought her out in the very heart of a mountain and had warmed her with his own body. The emotions she felt in her heart at those thoughts made what she felt from, and for, Kanaan so much paler. How could she trust Kanaan with her heart now? Had he ever really had it?

She looked across the tent at him and saw him watching her with haunted eyes. "You do blame me," he repeated with conviction.

She shook her head. "No, I do not blame you. I know you did all you could."

It was just that she wanted more than this man could give her. She had never realised how much she had wanted from a man now, that courage and determination were such important characteristics for her in a partner. She wanted a man who would track her endlessly until he found her, as she knew she would do for him. Kanaan would not do that, he would now, but only because he felt ashamed for what had happened. That was not the kind of love she wanted.

"But," she said softly, not sure how to convey to him what she now understood. She knew then why she had reacted so strongly when he had suggested having another child together. Not because of his choices, for he had meant well, but because there wasn't the love she wanted between them. "I think I have grown used to Earth mentalities," she told him as an excuse. "In Atlantis we would always search out those lost. When I had been taken by Michael they kept searching for me for weeks."

Kanaan hung his head and inhaled loudly. "You expect that behaviour from me? Do you not think I am ashamed of myself for not having the faith in you and the Ancestors that you were alive? I looked everywhere I could think of to find you."

She closed her eyes briefly; he had missed her point. It was that he stopped looking that hurt her. She knew in her heart that Rodney back on Earth would be struggling to allow him and others to come back here to see if John and Lorne were alive.

"In Atlantis…" she started to explain.

"Atlantis is gone!" Kanaan exclaimed loudly. "Am I to always be judged against those from another galaxy?"

"It does not matter where you come from," she protested. "Determination is hardly a characteristic only limited to Earth. Our people are strong passionate people and we have seen more hardships than many on Earth ever will experience." Yet, her people had also given up. In their minds they had searched all the possibilities and found nothing. Perhaps it was that on Atlantis she was used to there being options where at first there appeared to be none.

"You see me as weak for giving up on finding you," Kanaan stated.

She tried not to wince at his words. "No, I do not. What I feel is…I feel that," she started and tears filled her eyes. She remembered on Michael's ship, that she had had to talk Kanaan into helping her save their son. Yes, he had been under the influence of Michael, but it had still been disheartening to have to persuade him. Perhaps it was foolish to think that had he been another man that he would not have needed convincing. She had pushed those thoughts far back in her mind over the past year and a half, but now they seemed so relevant. She remembered when John had been mutated by the Iratus retrovirus and even when cornered in the city and clearly stronger than her he had run rather than attack her.

"I feel," she whispered through her tears. "That our relationship is not as I wish it should be."

She saw the pain in his face. "Because I did not keep looking for you?" He asked with a disbelieving tone.

"No, not just because of that," she realised as she spoke. "I have always cared for you and I always will." He looked away from her as she spoke and she felt pain in her chest. Then he looked back at her.

"Atlantis will not return, Teyla. That life is over. As you said, we need to live in the present, the here and now. You said you wanted to return to our people."

"I meant it. I could not imagine never seeing them again and Torren never knowing what it means to be Athosian. I do not regret the decision, but that does not mean that it was not difficult for me and that I think of what might have happened if I had chosen otherwise."

"And if we had remained living in Atlantis?"

"I believe we would still have found ourselves at this point."

He frowned. "We could have a good life together, Teyla. I want that for us."

She nodded. "I know that you do, but," she met his eyes. "I do not."

He sat back in his chair, his arms crossed over his middle. He looked angry and hurt all at once. "Did you love me once?" He asked.

She looked down at that. "I have a love for you, Kanaan, and you will always be a vital part of my life. We have shared so much together, since when we were young." A gentle smile ghosted over his face. "But, I do not think either of us has found all we wish in the other."

He looked down at his hands now resting in his lap. She watched his expression and wondered what it was that he was thinking. "You mean much to me, Teyla. I knew when our relationship began that you were focused on more than our world. You have always been passionate and aspiring for our people and those in our galaxy. You are a wonderful mother for our son and when we returned here I hoped that we could make a life here together. That you would be content here with me, but perhaps it was not the place, but rather us." His eyes lifted up to meet hers. "I feel as if I have been trying to prove myself to you all this time, but I failed."

She frowned at him. "You should not have to live your life that way. You deserve someone who is just what you want and need."

He nodded absently. "I was working so hard to be like another, that I forgot who I was."

She watched him curiously. "You have not appeared happy since returning here, despite how much I know you missed our people."

He frowned. "I was at first, but then Colonel Sheppard and Major Lorne arrived. I had hoped that you would forget your life in Atlantis and be happy here, but I feared that their presence would distract you again."

She felt a touch of annoyance at his words, though she appreciated his honesty.

"Perhaps I have always known that I was not what you truly wanted," Kanaan muttered.

She stood then and moved across the space to sit on a stool near him. "What we shared together I valued and still do. I think that perhaps instead it is that there are the right times for things."

He nodded as he reached for one of her hands. "That our time together is now over?" His voice was soft and honest. He seemed so much calmer and centred than she had seen him in many months. She had not realised that until now.

"I think that it is," she replied. "But, we will always be part of each others' lives. We share Torren, and I would hate that we could not remain friends."

He nodded again as he squeezed her hand, his eyes following his thumb that brushed over the back of her hand once more. "I would wish that as well and," he paused. "And that whatever life you choose, that we can still be important to each other."

She nodded, the tears in her eyes blinding her. She was giving up a kind and gentle man. He did mean a lot to her and now as he sat forward and they embraced she absorbed his physical strength. That he did not love her as she wished he did was one thing lacking out of so much that was good between them, but it was such an important thing. She wanted to love a man more passionately and completely than she had ever felt for Kanaan, and she wanted to be loved more than he loved her. She felt bad for those thoughts, for she had been so blessed with his love, and received such a gift in their son, but still she wanted more.

But, as they parted physically and began to softly arrange parting into separate tents, she knew also that the love she did feel for another was not returned either. She did not love one man enough, who was willing and eager to live a long life together, and she loved another man with a passion that was not returned.

------  
TBC


	6. Early Spring

Two Princes

Chapter 6 - Early Spring

--------

John

Thunder rumbled in the far distance, implying that more rain would be on its way by the end of the day. John looked out into the far distance where between two hilltops he could see the heavy clouds hanging over the far valley. It had been raining every day for what felt like weeks – not that anyone used the term of weeks in the camp. The Athosians didn't divide up the days in a month into weeks. They kept note of season mostly and on this planet at least, the seasons were consistent and very Earth like. Winter was finally over, the snow all melted and the heavy icicles that had decorated the camp had long since dripped away onto the ground. Then the rains of early spring had started, turning the well trodden already dampened ground of the camp into a slippery muddy mess. Though the amount of rain had been easing off a little over the last few days and it had allowed everyone to start working the fields for planting. But, not today for John – today he was babysitting.

Torren was dressed in the overly large coat Teyla had made for the boy – with the hood up the boy's head and face were entirely covered, and it was only when Torren tilted his head right back to look up at the adults around him that his little face could be spied. The gloves were also far too big, as within the glove in John's hand he could feel Torren's little hand swamped by the warm fabric. Torren would grow into it all, but for now he looked like the live version of Kenny from South Park – one large coat walking around by itself.

John was still wearing his winter coat and, though open, it felt far too warm to be worn today. He would need to pull his lighter jacket out of his clothes box back in his tent. In fact the cuffs of this coat were irritating the insides of his wrists and the heat had built up along both his arms. He would get out that other coat later, but for now he had his walk with Torren to enjoy.

The ground before them was rutted with the tracks of carts and the rainwater from this morning's cloudburst had filled them up, leaving long pools of muddy water. Torren stomped through the mud with great determination and joy, his little playful sounds mostly muffled by the coat's hood. John kept a tight hold of Torren's hand during their walk, keeping the boy upright and his little backside out of the mud. The Athosian kids loved the muddy camp ground and when they could escape from watchful eyes they would run full pelt through the mud and water, kicking it up all over each other and their clothes. They also inevitably ended up falling over in the mud and it would always end in tears of some kind, be that from hurt backsides or parents having to clean up the messy clothes. John had helped Torren into two thick pairs of trousers and the big coat before he had taken the boy out for a walk. With Torren also geared up with his sturdy little boots and gloves, hopefully there wouldn't be too much mess for John to clean up later.

Torren muttered something from inside his hood and pointed towards a nice muddy patch in the path ahead of them and pulled on John's hand as he hurried his little baby run towards the potential fun of the muddy patch. John increased his steps a little and as they arrived at the new patch Torren stomped heavily down into it, little muddy splashes flying up around him. John kept a good arm's distance from the display and since Torren was still small it didn't carry that far. Torren's amused giggles echoed out of his hood, and John smiled down at the boy who was stomping each foot in turn into the mud. It was so easy to entertain kids sometimes.

Torren appeared contented for awhile, so keeping his hand around Torren's gloved hand, John looked around at the camp. The majority of the camp was working in the fields to get everything planted and ready before the next rainstorm hit. But, there was still plenty of activity in the camp itself and John exchanged nods and smiles with people as they passed by. Most called out a greeting to Torren, but he stood face focused down on the mud intent on his game. Little tugs on John's hand kept them moving minutely forward as Torren explored further puddles.

Movement to one side of a nearby alley between tents drew John's eye. Teyla had just exited her tent and was striding out through the fresh spring air with what looked like determined purpose. She was supposed to be down in the fields, but clearly something had drawn her back here, which wasn't all that unusual. Though, Kanaan was working up here today John hadn't helped but notice. Something about building racks for something, but John hadn't really paid attention to the details Teyla had shared about Kanaan as she had dropped Torren in with John this morning.

John moved a little further down the path, Torren following along happily. Teyla was heading further into the living tents which meant she was looking for someone. John doubted it was him, for his tent was only a short walk from where her new tent had been put up. Though, really it was her old tent from Old Athos, which her people had kept stored away for her. It had been pretty obvious to everyone that she and Kanaan had split up for the day after John had rather publically argued with the Athosian male she had been out staking out her old tent. It was bad enough keeping things quiet in a small community like this, but when you were then assisted by a load of other people to set up your new home it was even more difficult.

John had helped that morning as best as he could, and had learnt a good deal about Athosian tent construction. He had felt really uncomfortable that morning though, for it could not have been a coincidence that the breakup had followed on the heels of his argument with Kanaan. John had felt rather guilty those first few days, that he had been part of anything that had upset Teyla. She had had that determined, 'I'm alright' look on her face for days, but it was clear that she had been affected by the breakup. Kanaan was the father of her child and the two of them had a whole lifetime of history between them. John had secretly wondered if she would change her mind though, and to this day he caught himself watching her and Kanaan's expressions closely when they were talking.

He hadn't seen any sign that the two were going to get back together, but she had seemed slightly more contained and quiet since. John hadn't had the courage to ask if he had been responsible for sparking off the fight that had split up the two, mostly because it was confusing for him and that John wondered what Kanaan had told her about the content of that argument.

John had felt pretty pleased she had broken up with Kanaan. The man wasn't right for her and though John had thought that before, he now felt justified in that opinion following Kanaan's pathetic behaviour when she had been thought lost. John had felt rather…smug might be the right word, to see that his belief had been proven correct – Kanaan wasn't right for her.

However there had been a few other developments since her break up with Kanaan. Such as the one which had John re-angling his path so as to keep Teyla in sight as she passed through the camp. He wasn't entirely sure when it had first started, but it had been after the break up. His friendship with Teyla hadn't wavered at all, but something had changed for him. He watched her now, as surreptitiously as he could. It wasn't like he hadn't found her attractive before now, he had always thought she was one of the most beautiful women he had met, but now there was something different. She had always been his friend, but now from nowhere a sense of pursuit had kicked in. He watched her, as he had so many times over the years, but now he would find himself focusing on the curve of her hips, the shape of her behind and the tempting hint of cleavage revealed by some of her late winter tops. He had noticed it all before and had always caught himself looking, but now he was really focusing on her as a woman and not just as his friend and former colleague. It was both enticing and unnerving. She was his friend, be it a particularly tempting one, and he enjoyed being her friend. He hadn't ever opened up as much with a female friend in his life, and the prospect of ruining that with a half baked attempt at a move was not appealing.

Then there was his usual baggage on the whole relationship issue in general. He knew he was a loner, and he liked being that way. Sure, some shrink would say it was due to his upbringing and that he had intimacy issues, but ultimately it came down to not wanting to get into anything too deep. If anything were to change in his relationship with Teyla it wouldn't be something small and quickly forgotten. He knew it would be a 'proper' relationship, filled with commitment and strong feelings. She already had a way of being able to get the whole mucky truth of something out of him, and he suspected that the only reason why she didn't know everything about his past was because she hadn't pushed him on it. In a way that was worryingly pathetic he knew he would tell her anything she wanted to know. And that was when they _weren't_ involved – what the hell would it be like if they were?! She was a strong willed woman and whenever the two of them had crossed swords before in an argument it had been an intense thing. That would be even more so if they were together.

A small voice whispered to him another thought as Torren jumped up and down beside him, sending small splashes up his boots. Or what if it didn't work out, hell, what if she didn't even want to date him? And it wasn't like there was somewhere like Antarctica around here for him to hide away if it all went to hell.

The cuff of his coat was irritating the inside of one wrist again, pulling his attention away from the issue of Teyla. He rubbed the inside of his itchy wrist against his side, not daring to let go of Torren with his other hand. The boy was still too playful and any hint of possible freedom and the boy would be running out through the camp. He still hadn't quite got the hang of running and would always end up falling over, and in this muddy mess it would be spectacular.

John looked back through the sea of tents to see Teyla was now talking with Halling. A little pleased to see that she wasn't talking with Kanaan, John walked on a little further. A squeak of delight and Torren was pulling at John's hand again towards a real sloppy mix of muddy ruts and small pools of water. John walked him towards it and as predicted Torren jumped in and his boots went out from under him. John lifted the boy's arm, preventing the fall and helped right the kid. Torren giggled in response, no fear or concern over nearly wiping out, his faith absolute in John to keep him upright and secure.

As Torren began stamping in the new puddles, John looked back towards Teyla and saw that she was heading towards him. She met his gaze with a wide smile, which John returned. Her cheeks were flushed slightly against the slightly chilled air and she looked happy enough.

"Didn't expect to see you in the camp," he asked once she was close enough.

As she reached them Torren announced his happiness with a high pitched laugh, reaching out for one of Teyla's hands. She caught up the little hand lost in the glove and smiled up at John from her son.

"Two of the seed carts broke," she said. "Hakon is going to repair them in the field rather than bringing them back here."

John nodded. Between them Torren had lost interest in the muddy pools and was now trying to swing between John and Teyla's hands. John lifted up on Torren's arm to help give him some space, as Teyla did with his other arm. The boy could swing back and forward as long as he lifted his knees and was happy to swing only an inch above the ground. Since it was a regular favourite game of Torren's they kept on talking as Torren hung from their hands and giggled.

"Hakon need any help?" John asked. His wood carving skills were improving slowly, but it didn't take that much skill to help put a cart back together.

"Several others are already helping him, he should be fine. Evan returned to his tent as well though, he wasn't feeling too well," she reported.

John understood that, he hadn't been feeling all that great since that soup last night. "Did he eat the soup?"

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "The tuttleroot soup was fine," she protested. "Everyone else ate it and they are all well."

John pulled a doubtful expression to tease her. "Maybe they're just trying to spare your feelings."

She gave him a mock glare, one eyebrow lifted. "You have not complained about my cooking efforts before," she pointed out.

The itch on the inside of his arm began again, and John rubbed his arm against his side once more. "You haven't made tuttleroot soup before," he replied. He doubted it had been the soup, or maybe there was just something in there that the two guys from Earth weren't used to.

"I will not make it again then," she said. She looked a little put out, but John knew she wouldn't take his teasing the wrong way.

"I'm glad to hear it," he replied.

She glared at him again, but he saw the sparkle in her eyes. But, before she could threaten to cook the soup again, someone called out their names. Fera was hurrying along the muddy path, hopping expertly over ruts and around puddles.

"Teyla, John," she called as she reached them.

"Hello, Fera, have you seen Evan?" Teyla asked.

Fera reached them and stopped with a light sigh of breath. "Yes, I have just come from his tent. He has the Sweet Grain sickness."

John heard Teyla draw in a worried breath. "He did not look that well," she commented, before she turned towards John. "How are you feeling, John?"

Instantly he felt uncomfortable, as if all the niggling things he had been ignoring all morning were now clambering for attention. It was psychosomatic that was all. "Not that great," he admitted.

Teyla reached out towards his free arm. "Are your arms itching you?"

A little surprised at her question he looked down at his arm. Teyla pulled on his cuff and pushed it back to expose the inside of his wrist. A perfectly round red rash had appeared over the pale skin of his inner wrist.

"Okay, that wasn't there earlier," John said a little worriedly. John turned to Fera and passed over Torren's hand. "Is it contagious?" He asked concerned as the boy was handed over.

Teyla had pushed his sleeve up some more and he saw more small raised circular rashes all over his forearms.

"No, not between people," Teyla assured him as she turned to his other arm and he watched her push back that sleeve to reveal the same rash on that arm.

"Okay, that's a little worrying," John remarked. "They weren't there when I left my tent."

Teyla let go of his wrist allowing him to examine the rashes himself.

"The rash arrives quickly and only itches during its initial stages." She was looking at him the way nurses do when they're either looking for something or were worried that you were about to collapse on them. "Are you feeling warm?"

"A little," John replied. She reached up towards his forehead and it was only when her cool fingers touched his skin that he realised how warm he did feel. "Is it dangerous?" He asked next, cutting straight to the heart of the matter, and his heart was currently very worried.

Teyla smiled at him with a look that was clearly meant to be reassuring. "Not frequently no. It is mainly very draining and uncomfortable though, and can last many days." She looked at Fera. "Evan's is more advanced?"

Fera had both her hands on Torren's shoulders, attempting to keep him close. "His fever is growing and he feels very weak."

"We need to take them to Sakura," Teyla replied.

Fera nodded. "I will speak with Halling," she replied and moved away, but not before Torren had detached himself from her grip and had wrapped his arms around Teyla's legs.

John touched his hand to his own forehead and decided he also felt a little clammy. "When you say 'uncomfortable'..?" He prodded.

"Left to run its course it includes high fever, sickness, muscle pain, the rash, and some even experience hallucinations."

"Oh, great."

"But, not everyone experiences those," she added quickly.

"Why are only Lorne and I affected?" He asked, following Teyla's gentle nudge to start walking.

"It affects different people at different times. Anyone who works with the Sweet Grain develops the illness every five harvests or so. Halling contracted it only last season. Those of us who have worked with the grain most of our lives are affected less, and eventually immunity builds up over the decades."

"At least I've got that to look forward to," John muttered. "There's a treatment right?" He asked.

"Yes, there is a shrub that grows near Sweet Grain that counteracts the illness."

"The plants with the greeny purple leaves?" John asked.

"Yes, we used to brew up the leaves into a tea, which would be sipped over several days to stop the illness."

John looked round at her a little worriedly. "You used to?"

She inclined her head. "The shrub's leaves are only affective once the plants are of a certain maturity and since we haven't been growing on this planet for very long…"

"The plants aren't mature enough," John finished.

"Yes."

"So how sick are we gonna get?"

"Sweet Grain sickness is very draining and can last as long as what you would call three weeks."

"Three weeks?!"

She nodded as they neared the entrance to his tent. "But, do not worry. There are other worlds that have the shrubs."

"Sakura?" He asked.

"Yes. They grow a considerably large amount of Sweet Grain of several different varieties and so their need for the shrub was high. However, they also had so many people falling sick with the illness that they did not have enough leaves to make that much tea, so they developed a purer more concentrated version."

John detected that she was holding something back. "Then that's good, right?"

"Yes, in fact Sakura has become famed for treating people for Sweet Grain sickness. They have open clinics for people from other worlds to visit and be treated. In fact the treatments bring them just as much trade as the Sweet Grain itself."

"Sounds good," John commented. He pulled off his coat, the heat of it really bothering him, and as he threw it in through the entrance to his tent he saw Fera helping Lorne towards them. The guy didn't look that good. He looked pale, yet flushed. Fera was clearly helping him stay upright.

"The only problem…" Teyla said.

John turned towards her. "And there's the 'but' I was waiting for."

She reached out with one hand laying it reassuringly on his arm. "No, the cure works very effectively." Lorne and Fera had arrived by this point.

"Hey, Major," John greeted Lorne.

"Colonel," Lorne replied. They hardly ever referred to each other by their ranks, and when they did it was almost with a touch of nostalgia. "You look better than I feel."

John nodded. "Guess it likes you better." That got a smile from the man and beside him Fera smiled as well.

"So, we're going to Sakura then?" Lorne asked.

"Yes, the sooner we can reach one of their clinics the sooner you can be treated."

John gave Teyla his best commanding officer look. "And that 'but' we were just talking about?" He resisted the urge to waver on his feet. His body was definitely feeling weaker and his leg muscles were complaining a bit.

"In order to treat a large number of people with the shrubs, the Sakurans distil a concentrate from the shrub leaves. In place of several days' worth of brewed handfuls of leaves, they give one intense dose of the concentrate."

"Why don't they just dilute the concentrate out?" Lorne asked.

"That results in a weaker dose than even the brewed tea. Perhaps it also helps to treat their patients as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Either way they provide one dose of the medicine that you drink down and the medicine moves very quickly through the body eliminating the illness."

"That sounds like it might be painful," Lorne commented as he adjusted his arm over Fera's shoulders, trying not to put too much weight on her.

Teyla pulled a face. "This would be where the 'but' comes in. The medicine affects people in very different ways, but it is always effective. We will have to spend several hours there following the time you take the medicine, for you will be unable to walk or move around much."

"That doesn't sound like much fun," John said.

She smiled up at him. "But, it will cure you of the sickness in one day. You may feel tired for a few days after that, but you will not have to face the long weeks of weakening illness."

John nodded. "Let's go get it done then."

-------

Kanaan

It had been long difficult days since Teyla had moved back into her old tent. That Torren spent his time split between the two tents had worried Kanaan at first, but it appeared that the boy did not mind. There had been one night early on when Torren had woken in the night crying and Kanaan's attention had not been enough to calm the child. Perhaps it had been the first realisation in Torren's young mind, Kanaan couldn't be sure, but Kanaan had carried the boy out into the night and had woken Teyla. She had taken the boy into her new bed with her which had calmed Torren, but Kanaan had had to leave, going back to his empty tent devoid of both son and woman.

The days had improved, but the heavy weight in Kanaan's heart had not lightened that much. The first few days after she had left him he had felt sad and alone, only for him then to fall into regret and bitterness. He wished that he had not fought so publically with Sheppard, and that Teyla had not seen the altercation. His anger and bitterness shifted then from Teyla to Sheppard. After all she said she did not want him and what more could he do? Yet, he could not help feeling that Sheppard had won in some way. No doubt Sheppard was pleased with the development and would surely have told Teyla he thought as much. Reminding her constantly of Kanaan's failure to rescue her.

Perhaps Sheppard had been right about Teyla that one time, but Kanaan had lost many over the years to harsh winters - he did know what it was like to find someone in less than two days, but only for them to have long since passed to the Ancestors. Kanaan felt trapped between feeling justified in his beliefs that day, yet at the same time knowing that he had been wrong. And it would have had to have been Sheppard who had proven that. The man had held it against him since, as if Kanaan hadn't realised how close he had come to losing Teyla!

Kanaan had feared Sheppard and Lorne's arrival in the camp from the beginning, sensing on some deep level that it would bring nothing but heartache for him. And he had been correct. Now he had lost Teyla, even when she had been literally returned from the dead. He had tried to see the philosophical side that said that she was not what he wished, yet his heart still ached. And his temper circled around the memory of the disagreement with Sheppard. Kanaan wished he had not let Sheppard push him into that argument, yet at the same time he wished that Teyla had not arrived and that he and Sheppard could have come to blows. Perhaps that would have shown Teyla and the others that Sheppard was not the hero they all saw him as. He was a man out with an agenda of his own.

Kanaan sighed heavily at his thoughts as he worked. They were not healthy he knew. He needed to move past what had happened. He had lost the ideal future that he had foreseen, but that did not mean he had to turn into a man of bitterness. It would all heal in time. Perhaps she would even change her mind about him with time.

"Kanaan," Teyla's voice called out from behind him, almost as if he had manifested her with his thoughts. He knew she was meant to be in the fields all day and for a moment he hoped that she had walked away from her work to speak to him. Perhaps even to fulfil the rest of what he had been wishing - that she wished to repair things between them. He turned from his work and saw that Torren was with her, which was a surprise. Then he saw the hurried expression on her face.

"What is wrong?" He asked as he set down his tools and moved towards them.

"Major Lorne and Colonel Sheppard have contracted the Sweet Grain sickness," she said hurriedly as she trod over the damp saturated grass between them. "Fera and I are taking them to Sakura now. Could you take Torren for the rest of the day?"

Kanaan's first emotion was disappointment that his moments' fantasy of her changing her mind had not occurred, had been quickly surmounted by the annoyance that what hurried her step was due to Colonel Sheppard. Then he felt guilty. The two men were sick for as Kanaan, and all Athosians, knew the sickness was not comfortable. But, then at least he would get to keep his boy with him today. "Yes of course," he replied as evenly as he could, smiling at her hoping her to see that he was not angry about things anymore.

Teyla leant down to Torren and pushed back his gigantic hood to reveal his little, slightly worried face. "Torren, would you like to stay with your father for awhile? You can assist him with his work." She used a tone designed to engage the boy's interest. Kanaan saw Torren frown and knew his boy knew was aware that something worrying was going on.

"Come Torren," Kanaan said as he reached out a hand to his son. "We can work out where to put these drying racks." Torren reached up for his father's hand with interest. The little boy's hand was snugly wrapped up in the glove.

Teyla leant forward and kissed Torren's cheek. "I will see you later, Torren."

She stood upright and Kanaan saw the concern in her face. "He will be fine out here helping me," Kanaan assured her. "I have finished most of my work already." She nodded clearly relieved. "Are you going to stay with Colonel Sheppard on Sakura?" He wasn't entirely sure he had hidden the touch of jealousy in his voice, she didn't seem to react.

"Yes, he will need someone with him."

Kanaan frowned. "Are there not nurses in the clinics who can sit with him?" Kanaan had sat beside one of his good friends when they had gone through the cure only last year. The affect of the medicine had strange affects on people and could turn a grown man into a crying heap, or make him feel that he was one of the Ancestors capable of anything. Kanaan did not like the idea of Teyla sitting there with Sheppard, probably trying to be comforting and whispering supportive words to him.

Teyla frowned. "He is my friend and besides it would be best that should he begin to talk of Atlantis and Earth that no one overhears." Kanaan nodded, but wondered what privileged secrets Sheppard could tell to a Sakuran nurse, especially as Atlantis was now in another galaxy.

"Of course. Wish them well from me," he said politely.

Teyla nodded and smiled. "I am sorry that I do not know exactly when we will return tonight."

Kanaan shook his head, trying not to feel annoyed with her. "I will keep Torren with me tonight and he can stay with you tomorrow."

"Thank you," she said with feeling and turned to go. "Good day, Kanaan."

"Good day, Teyla," he replied as she hurried away, running away to support Sheppard.

He looked away from her retreating form and down to his son. Torren grinned up at him, his tiny teeth on display, and Kanaan smiled in return.

--------

Halling

Halling stood under the shelter of the large budding tree and watched the four people stood by the dialling out device. The rain had begun to fall just after he had joined them on their walk to the Gate. Evan had already been severely weakened and Halling had helped him walk along the path, as Fera supported his other side. John had been faring better, but it was clear that his temperature was rising.

Halling had not worked the Sweet Grain much as a child, instead having focused more on carpentry and assisting his father with hunting. Consequently he had only contracted the sickness a few times in his life when he had worked the fields. It took at least three separate infections of the illness for the affect of the sickness to lessen, and those, such as Teyla, who had worked the grain fields from a very young age, usually became immune by the time their reached full maturity. But, that left quite a few among the Athosians who still contracted the illness from handling the grain and it appeared the sickness had a varied incubation period, as Doctor Beckett had referred to it.

Last year Halling had fallen ill with the sickness at the end of the harvest. It had been considerably milder than pervious years, but he had still visited Sakura for there had been too much to do and he had not wished to remain weak for so many days. The effect of the medicine had had a remarkable affect on him that had been almost akin to a religious experience. He remembered sobbing out tears as he had relived his grief over what Michael had done to his people. The sadness had then broken into a well of peace as he finally surrendered to what had happened. He remembered Teyla laying cool cloths to his forehead as he dozed in and out of what had felt like life itself coming and going out of his grasp. And he vividly remembered that in the next room that someone had been laughing manically, only to then weep inconsolably.

The treatment had been a strenuous experience, but also enlightening for Halling. He had sat up from his sick bed to see Teyla watching him with relief, and he had felt the burden of grief and guilt drift away. So many Athosians had been lost over the recent years, but there were still survivors and they had a new home world to develop and explore and to love. He had walked out of the clinic a man full of determination and clarity.

Yet, he had seen others in the clinic with different reactions. One man had walked past Halling, his head drooped low and his eyes still wet from his tears, whilst another had been giggling to himself whilst sitting in a corner. Whatever the effect on the patient there was, one thing was clear that it was a powerful experience. He wondered how those from Earth would fare.

The Gate activated, the burst of energy leaping out from the circle of the Ancestors, the rain steaming away from its watery edge. The two men and two women moved forward quickly and he watched them disappear into the Ancestral waters of the Gate.

Yes, things were going to change in some way. He wasn't sure in what way, or how far reaching it would be, but change was in the air. He turned his face into the breeze that danced under the branches sheltering him and he inhaled the scent of springtime. Spring was a time of beginnings.

---------  
TBC


	7. Sakura

Two Princes

Chapter 7 - Sakura

-------

John

The clinic was a busy place and this was just the one that catered for off worlders. The lean to tent that stood on the outside of the one storey building that was the clinic, was filled with wooden benches all filled with people. It was pretty easy to pick out those who had the Sweet Grain sickness and those who accompanied them. Lorne had been taken straight through to be treated as he had been barely able to stand up when they had arrived through the Gate. John however could still stand and was clearly in the first stages of the sickness. Though, there were a few seated, or slumped in some cases, on the benches who looked like they were going to get treated before him. He wished there were some magazines to read.

He looked round at Teyla beside him. He realised he had been slightly slumped against her shoulder and tried to sit more upright. She looked round with that testing look she had worn since she had first found out about Lorne being sick. Her eyes flicked up to John's forehead, as they had regularly since they had arrived in the clinic. He wondered how bad he looked and was immensely grateful that there weren't any mirrors in the waiting area.

The back of her fingers touched against his forehead again and she frowned. He already knew his temperature had gone up, he could feel the heat emanating from his face and body.

"I'm okay," he said quietly.

She dropped her hand. "I think I shall still speak with a nurse."

He was about to protest that there were people in here who were more in need than him, but she was already getting up from the bench. At which point he discovered how much of his weight really had been resting against her as he almost fell sideways. He managed to correct himself, sharing a slightly embarrassed smile with her. They really should put proper chairs in here, for the benches had no backs to them and there was another line of people seated just behind him. He had no direction in which to lean but against Teyla to help keep himself upright.

He watched her walk down the avenue of knees towards the nursing station at the far end of the triage tent. A man just up the row across from John met his eyes and rolled his eyes in the universal male language that said 'she does worry'. John smiled back before he returned his attention to where Teyla stood at the far table.

The man sat beside John abruptly coughed violently, but fortunately covered his mouth in time. The man beside the guy slapped his back helpfully. The indefinable smell of sickness and body odour lingered in the air of the waiting area, though the nurses had attempted to help by setting burning incense in the corners of the tent. Teyla had said something about the stuff helping ease symptoms as well as smelling nice.

Not for the first time today John really missed Carson. The guy, as well as being one of John's good friends, was a brilliant physician who had always had a way of making John feeling less pathetic when he had gotten ill in Atlantis. The loss of his friends welled up inside him once again, and this time the sadness was stronger than he had felt in a long time. He still missed his buddies, but he had gotten on with his new Athosian life and had found that he had been slipping less and less into home sickness and melancholy. Slumping on the bench now he guessed being ill was making him feel a little depressed.

Teyla abruptly appeared by him and he sat up straighter alarmed with himself for not having kept an eye on her. They were in foreign territory; who new what could happen. John had insisted in carrying his sidearm with him, though Sakura was a safe and peaceful world. It would be just his luck that the Wraith would return only to start their feeding frenzy on Sakura when he was there.

Teyla sat down beside him and he saw one of the small buckets of water in her hand and he watched as she dipped a simple clean cloth into it. He reached for it as she lifted it back out. He squeezed it off and lifted it to his forehead. The coolness of the cloth was a sweet relief. He sighed in delight and Teyla murmured with amusement beside him.

"They say it should not be too long," she told him quietly.

John looked round her, the odd drip of water falling through his field of view from the cloth against his forehead. "There are people a lot sicker in here than me."

"They have a large number of treatment rooms, so there will probably be a time when several rooms become free at once." John suspected she was sugar coating it, but all he felt like doing was sighing.

The guy next to him coughed loudly again, the sound rattling. His friend, relative or even partner, on the other side slapped his back again.

"That is not helpful," the man managed to reply through his coughing. The other guy just smiled.

"Of course it is."

"I do not need to be here, I can recover without this treatment," coughing man argued. "I've had the sickness thrice before."

"Well, you are just as sick this time as the last," came back the argument.

"I don't like the treatment," was the muttered reply. There was a strong touch of depression in his voice and perhaps even a little fear.

"I will be there with you, just like last time. You will be fine soon."

John tried not to listen to the two mens' conversation but it was difficult when they were sat only two inches away from him.

The guy started coughing again, but this time his companion didn't slap his back, until there was some desperate back pointing and he slapped his hand back against the coughing back. But, this time the coughing turned into retching. John pulled back from the man instinctively knowing what was going to come next. However, the guy's stomach appeared to be thankfully empty. Two of the nurses from the far end had been paying close attention to the guy and one hurried towards him with a bucket in one hand. The man took the bucket quickly and bent over it, spitting into it. John tried to find another few centimetres between them. Realising he was practically climbing over Teyla's lap he sat back a little.

The male nurse in front of them frowned at the guy and pressed a hand to the sick man's forehead and then made some gesture down to the far nurses. There was a nod and another nurse arrived and between them they got the guy upright as he began coughing again. John's stomach began to feel very quesy just from the sound of the sickening coughing that threatened to fill the bucket.

The guy was led away down the tent towards the curtained off entrance into the main clinic. John noticed that the other sick patients sat along the benches were watching as well, but where he had expected to see resentment or sympathy, he saw mostly nervousness. Most of these people were acting like the poor guy had been led off to an uncertain fate. The guy's companion could be heard offering soothing reassurance, until the curtain dropped behind them as they disappeared into the clinic. Which left everyone else sitting tensely in the dull waiting atmosphere.

John looked round at Teyla. "Why do I get the feeling you're still holding back on the details of this treatment?" He asked quietly. He knew that if she had withheld anything it would be for his benefit, but he was getting to the point where he needed to know.

He watched her expression change and caught the ever so subtle shift of her features that suggested that he had caught her out. If he hadn't been sitting so close he might not have noticed. Her lips looked fuller sitting so close to her as well, he noted. And she smelled good. He caught himself from those thoughts and focused on her words. She had taken the cloth from his forehead which had become as warm as his skin and she dropped it back into the bucket to refresh it.

"I told you the affect of the treatment on people varies considerably," she said as she lifted the cloth back to his forehead. He watched her from under the dripping cloth.

"You said it makes you really weak," he pointed out.

She lifted one of his hands to encourage him to hold the cloth to his forehead. "Yes, it does, but it can also have strong emotional affects on people. Some find it a difficult experience, but the stories and rumours do more to make people afraid of the treatment than actual fact."

He watched her face and lifted a suspicious eyebrow at her. She gave him a smile. "You will be fine," she replied as she patted his closest knee.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "That's what that guy just said, didn't stop his sick friend from being dubious."

Teyla's eyes flicked to the far end of the tent where the two men had vanished. "I do not think they were just friends." He knew the comment was an attempt to distract him.

"Am I gonna start hallucinating?" he asked. The few times he had experienced that before had not been pleasant - in fact terrifying might have been a more accurate description.

She gave him another pat on his knee and reached for the cloth again. He let her take in, realising that it was already warm; his temperature was going up quickly. "It is unlikely. As I said it is usually more emotionally demanding," she replied.

That did not make John any more comfortable. In fact that made it all a little bit more worrying. He wasn't sure he wanted Teyla sitting next to him if he started uncontrollably crying over some upsetting thing that had happened to him – and he had plenty to choose from. He and Teyla had seen each other at their worst and at their best, but there were limits where John felt comfortable. Maybe it would be best for her to wait outside for him.

She reapplied the cloth, the backs of her fingers dropping to one of his cheeks and she frowned again. She looked back down the aisle of people and John looked round to see a nurse smiling back at her reassuringly. Before John could ask, another nurse appeared through the far curtain and pulled it back. It looked like they were ready to take in the next wave of patients. John felt his first wave of nausea and suspected it had nothing to do with the sickness.

The nurses selected various people from the benches and one of them nodded to John. Teyla picked up the bucket at their feet and her hand was strong on his arm. It took more effort than he expected to stand up, his muscles having grown used to his slumped position on the bench. He lowered the cloth from his forehead and followed the nurse along, who looked pleased to see that John could still walk by himself. John tried to hide the fact that it was hard going.

He followed the nurse down the line of benches and then through the curtain following along behind a line of other patients and those with them. On the other side of the curtain the tent had become the strong walls of the building. There was a long corridor that extended what looked like the full width of the building in both directions. The line of patients was divided off down the left and right corridors. John was pointed down the left and he wandered along following the others, some of whom were being helped along. John paused to wait as one patient had to be handed a bucket. John felt his legs weaken briefly and there was a burst of heat through his body. Teyla's hand landed on his back, pressing supportively against him. He allowed some of his weight to press back against her, though he wanted to stand by himself. Her other hand appeared around his shoulder and the re-freshed cloth was given to him. As he applied it to his forehead he realised he couldn't remember having given it to her in the first place.

The line continued forward and he was shown into a smaller waiting room, and he dropped into a proper chair only to be waved into one of the smaller rooms opposite almost immediately. Teyla followed him into the small clinic room. A woman with a polite professional air waved him towards a chair and closed the curtain that enclosed the room from the waiting room. John sat with a heavy drop of his weight. Teyla settled into the chair just behind him.

The doctor, presumably, sat down opposite John and smiled at them, asking their names and welcoming them to Sakura. John actually appreciated the small talk, as his stomach was definitely feeling queasy now. The woman had a small table next to her on which sat a piece of official looking paper which she was writing down John's name in a language which he couldn't recognise. He wondered idly how she would spell his name. There was a large cupboard behind her and several banks of what looked like chilled cabinets, though he had no idea how they kept them chilled without electricity.

"Have you been treated here before?" The nurse/doctor asked him.

"No," John replied.

"He has not had the Sweet Grain sickness before," Teyla added.

The woman made a note on her paper with an interested smile. "You are new to working the grain?"

"Call it a late career change," John replied.

The woman nodded, and John had no idea if she had understood the touch of sarcasm, as she smiled politely again.

"Tell me how you are feeling," she asked. John told her his symptoms and she looked at the rash on his arms. Happy with that the woman set aside her paper and focused on him entirely. "Have you been told about the treatment?"

John gave a quick look towards Teyla. "I've been told it affects people differently and that it's not exactly pleasant."

The woman nodded. "There are a wide range of reactions to the treatment and they do not reflect on the success of the treatment. What will happen is I will give you the medicine now then once we're sure you have kept it down, you will be shown to a private clinic room where you can remain as long as you need to get through the effects of the treatment. There are fully trained care providers available at all times. Once the reactions have passed you should feel immediately improved though perhaps tired. You will then be able to sit in the recovery room for some time if you wish. Do you have any questions?"

"How long does it take for the 'reactions' to pass?" He asked.

"Again it varies. There are a large number of private rooms in the clinic so there will be no hurry for you to leave." Which explained why there had been a long wait, John guessed.

"Have you seen another guy Evan Lorne through here?" John asked.

The woman consulted a separate sheet of paper. "No, but he was probably seen by another physician. I will ask for you and let you know later." John nodded.

"Okay then." John handed the cloth round to Teyla, who smiled encouraging at him.

The woman stood and moved over to one of the chilled cabinets, pulled out a tall flask and poured out a measured amount of a thick dark liquid into a small cup. She put the flask away again and returned to the seat opposite John. She handed him the cup. John took it with a flicker of worry, but he was really starting to feel ill, so the prospect of feeling better soon was comforting. The cup was chilled from the liquid and a dark scent rose from it.

"Try to drink it all in one go," she said encouragingly.

John took a breath and drank the liquid as he would a shot. He swallowed the liquid instantly, but it still hit his taste buds with a burst of intense bitterness. He hissed with the taste, unable to stop himself from pulling a face. The woman smiled as she took the empty cup from him.

"It is very bitter," she said belatedly in John's opinion. John nodded, unable yet to talk. The woman set the cup down into a bowl of water across the room and then returned to them. She asked a few other questions about where they had come from, all clearly meant to pass the time as they waited to see if John was going to bring up the medicine. His stomach seemed surprisingly happy with the disgusting liquid.

After a few minutes the woman led them out another door and down a corridor to enter an area that had a definite hospital feel. They walked past one door through which John could see a corridor lined with closed doors. A loud scream of panic burst out and then a loud sob of what sounded like pain. Once the sound died a little John thought he could hear several other people muttering loudly, in a wild incoherent way that suggested they were talking manically to themselves. Concern doubled in John's stomach and suddenly he decided that he definitely wanted Teyla in the private room with him. He had to worry what kind of nightmare he might relive. What if he reacted by thinking he was back in a Wraith ship or something. As they walked he pulled his sidearm from his thigh and handed to Teyla. She took it without comment.

They were led through another door and into a quieter corridor. John saw a couple being shown into a far room. There were several nurses down the corridor and all of them smiled in greeting and then turned back to their work.

A door stood open and the doctor waved them into a small room. So this would be his private clinic room. It looked more like a fully stocked hotel room. There was a comfortable looking bed with nice clean sheets, a chair next to it and a tall jug of water set on a table. There was also another bucket of water, cloths and, a little worryingly, an empty bucket. Great.

John walked in a little cautiously and sat on the end of the bed. Teyla closed the door behind them as the doctor woman reached for one of John's wrists and began to take his pulse.

"How do you feel?" She asked.

John thought about it. "Still warm. Stomach's a bit better."

The woman nodded and then looked up at his eyes, reaching up to open his eyelids a little wider and she studied his eyes. She stood back then.

"I will wait with you until the medicine begins to take affect. If you need anything please call for an attendant. They will check on you if too much time passes just to check on you and to see if you need anything else."

John listened to her words, but the world seemed to be changing around him. A new flood of warmth spread through his body and the tiredness he had been feeling abruptly became heavier. He took a breath and the warmth in his body became a wave of intense relaxation. He sighed heavily. The woman was back in front of him and was looking at his eyes again.

"It is taking affect. How do you feel?"

John smiled at her as she stood back from him. "Good," he replied. "Sleepy, but good." Everything was becoming soft and gentle around him. He saw the smile cross over the woman's face.

"Oh, you are going to be one of those," she said with a grin. She looked round at Teyla who had appeared next to her. John turned his sleepy gaze to Teyla and back.

"What 'those' is that?" he asked slowly, the effort taking a lot of concentration.

"Does everything feel blissful and you feel very happy?" She asked.

"Yeah," John replied with feeling. "The air feels good." The woman and Teyla laughed a little. They moved away from him, but then hands caught him and he realised he had been falling backwards.

"Let's get you comfortable on the bed," the woman was saying, as hands helped him along the length of the bed. The cover was extremely soft under his hands and it smelt really nice. He dropped onto his side against the soft pillow and sighed happily. A heavy heat was pouring through him, but unlike the heat of the fever this felt really good and he was happy to just lay here and enjoy it. He opened his eyes and noticed how pretty the table was beside the bed.

"The colours taste nice," he commented to the women as he looked at the painted table.

There were some more amused sounds and then the sound of the door closing. Teyla appeared beside the bed and John looked up at her, though he didn't lift his cheek from the soft pillow. She smiled at him, her hand settling on his hair. He smiled at the touch; so warm and nice. He told her it was nice and she seemed to grin widely. Her hand lifted and then resettled against his forehead with a flash of cold water as the cloth was once again settled over his forehead.

He opened his eyes again, not realising he had closed them, and things had changed - Teyla had taken off her coat and was seated next to the bed, one arm extended towards him as she pressed another wet cloth to his forehead.

If she said anything to him he didn't hear it because he was drifting into sleep again, filled with dreams of pretty things and soft touches.

---------

Teyla

Teyla sat back into her seat beside John's bed, her back aching from constantly leaning forward to replenish the cool wet cloth over his forehead. The doctor had told her to keep working to keep his temperature down to ease the treatment. The woman had also remarked that those who reacted like John had done were the safest of patients. They were usually very relaxed and easy to deal with, unlike someone further down the corridor who Teyla could hear was raging and shouting about something. The noise didn't seem to disturb John from his sleep though.

She noted he was smiling even in his sleep. She smiled herself as she reached forward and tested the cloth. She pressed her fingers to his cheek, but found him still very hot. When she had sat beside Halling when he had visited this clinic, it had taken hours by her Earth watch for him to return to himself. Halling had cried out against the Ancestors, then had wept heavy achingly painful sobs that had made her cry as she sat with him.

John stirred and she saw the hugely dilated eyes open and he sighed. She lifted the cloth from his head and tilted her head to smile at him. He grinned back at her.

"Are you still feeling good?" She asked.

He drew in a deep breath and rolled his head back on the pillow. "Good," he muttered as he rolled fully onto his back, one arm flung out across the bed. She watched him blink rapidly, possibly as he tried to focus on something. "The ceiling is pretty," he muttered.

Teyla looked up at the very plain ceiling above them and smiled. "I am sure it is." She set about dipping the cloth in the water bucket again and squeezing it out. He murmured and then rolled onto his other side, turned away from her. She contemplated carrying the chair around to the other side to tend him, but decided it was probably easier to sit up on the side of the bed with him. She stood and sat down on the bed behind his back and leant over him. He glanced up at her, before he returned his sleepy looking cheek to the pillow. She laid the damp cloth onto as much of his forehead as she could reach. He murmured again, but then she realised he was humming. She leant a little further over him and listened to the sound. She hadn't ever heard John hum before and she grinned at him.

Then he began to mumble words along to the same broken melody he had been humming.

"…I've had it to here, being where love's a small word, a part time thing. A paper ring. I know it's been done, having one girl who loved me…right or wrong…weak or strong…" he was singing quietly, clearly enjoying the words. She leant closer, resting against his back as she did and she smiled down at him.

"Don't know that I will but until I can find me a girl who'll stay and won't play games behind me…I'll be what I am…a solitary man." She listened to the lyrics which, though he was delivering with amusement, had a rather melancholy air she thought.

"…was mine till the time that I found her holding Jim and loving him…" He had begun to sing slower, sounding a little sad and finally he fell into silence. She looked down at his face to see that he was still awake, but was frowning now.

"Are you alright?" She asked him, unsure if he would understand her in his current state, Halling hadn't most of the time during his treatment.

He nodded, the movement large and exaggerated as though it had been a lot of effort. She decided not to interrupt his silence. She prepared another cloth and laid it against the back of his neck. He began to mumble again and another broken whispered song drifted out into the silence between them. However, this melody was slower and most definitely sader, and he whispered the words more than he sang them.

"There are places I'll remember, all my life, though some have changed…some forever, not for better. Some are gone and some remain..." The words were deeply poignant and she stilled to listen closely. "All these places have their moments, with lovers and friends I still can recall…some are dead and some are living..."

"I know I'll never lose affection…for people and things that went before…I know I'll often stop and think about them. In my life..."

Stirred, she looked over his shoulder to his face again and saw a tear rolling down his cheek. His words drifted off, the song falling into a soft hum again. She reached over him and very lightly wiped the tear tracks from his cheek with the back of her fingers. The hum died away and he sighed heavily. She felt very emotional herself now. One tear shed by John was as painful as all of Halling's sobbing had been for her.

She reached up to his forehead, testing the damp cloth and then ran the backs of her fingers down his cheek. His skin was still too warm, but she was aware that her action was now for his comfort rather than to check his fever. He sighed with a heavy edge of sadness. His pleasure had turned quickly into grief it appeared.

He began to whisper again in a faint tune. "…everyone I know goes away in the end…"

She stroked over his cheek again as his voice dropped away. "It is alright, John," she whispered to him.

He sighed again and she repeated her caress to his cheek. His eyelids fluttered shut and he once again fell asleep.

She watched him for many long minutes. His back was hot against her side as his body battled internally against the sickness. Kanaan had asked why a nurse couldn't have sat with John, but Teyla had not even considered leaving John alone to go through this treatment. Yet, she wondered if she was torturing herself a little by being here. She wanted to care for him she admitted to herself now, as she squeezed out the next cloth. It satisfied something deep inside her, but was that simply a weaker version of what she wanted. She was sure that Fera would not be simply sitting by Evan's side as he went through whatever world his treatment created for him. Teyla found herself imagining Evan's head resting in Fera's arms, as she stroked his hair.

John stirred again and Teyla noticed that she had been stroking over John's hair. A little embarrassed at herself she told herself it was the nurturing caring part of her that tending John brought out in her, but she knew it went deeper than that. She wished she could express her true level of affection for him. He murmured and she leant over him to see look at his face again. She liked the excuse she had to rest her body against his even slightly. Perhaps she should be ashamed of herself, but she simply focused on John.

He rolled his head back slightly to look up at her. His eyes were still glazed, but there was slightly more focus there now.

"Hey," he said, the word drawn out.

"Feeling brighter?" She asked. The image of a tear slipping down his cheek was still painfully clear in her mind, and it pulled on a particularly tender heart string inside her.

He murmured a pleased sound and nodded his head with exaggerated slowness.

"Would you like some water?" She asked as she reached for the cup on the side. He nodded again, so she brought it over his side and held it close to his lips. He lifted his head enough to drink down more than she had expected and then he slumped back down. "How do you feel?"

He rolled onto his back slightly, pressing his waist against her hip as he looked around the room. "Good. Pretty ceiling," he commented.

She smiled down at him. "You mentioned that earlier."

He nodded again. "I like the sparkly bits," he added.

She turned her head to look up at the still plain ceiling above them, which had a clear absence of anything that could possibly be considered sparkly. She looked back down at him and smiled widely. "If you say so."

He grinned back at her and laughed. She didn't think she had ever heard a grown man giggle before, but the laugh that rumbled out of John was pretty close. The ceiling might not be sparkling, but his eyes certainly were. A warmth poured into her face and chest at the sight and she reached under his head to retrieve one cloth that had fallen away from his neck. She rinsed it out and then reached up to set it against his forehead and noticed his eyes drifted closed with the contact of the new coolness.

"Do you still feel hot?" She asked.

"All of me feels warm," he replied his eyes still closed. "Like I'm filled with warmth and…it feels nice." She imaged that it would. His face still looked very flushed though. She looked at her watch and saw that only forty minutes had passed. His temperature would fall eventually, but it might take a little longer still.

He sighed and then rolled back onto his side away from her again. She moved with him as she was still arranging the cloth.

"Feel weird though," he muttered.

"It will pass," she assured him.

"I'm being swept along on a wave, can't hold onto anything." That sounded uncomfortable to her, but he seemed relaxed enough.

She reached up and stroked over his hair again. "Just relax," she whispered to him, hoping that would be best.

"Will you stay here?" He asked her from behind his closed eyes.

She ran her hand over his water soaked hair again. "I will stay right here for you, John."

"Stay close," he whispered. That heart string was plucked again and she rested her side more fully against his back.

"I will stay as close as you wish me to," she whispered to him. It was the closest she had ever come to telling him how she truly felt about him, but in this situation she knew he wouldn't understand her deeper meaning.

He slept for a while and she stayed with her side rested against him, stroking his hair and constantly changing the cloth over his forehead. At one point a nurse knocked gently at the entrance and entered to ask how he was doing. She gently took John's pulse and felt his forehead along with Teyla. His temperature was falling and his body didn't feel as hot against her.

"The treatment is working though there is still some way to go," the nurse said. She asked if they wanted any food and returned with two plates of basic food and some fresh water.

Once the nurse had gone and John remained deeply asleep, Teyla moved from his side to pick up a plate of the food. She tried some of the meat and then the vegetables. It tasted simple, no doubt to help those with a queasy stomach. Not wanting to sit on the chair away from him she instead returned to sit behind him on the bed, but this time propped up the spare pillow against the headboard of the bed. She took off her shoes and put them down with John's that she had pulled off his feet earlier. Then she climbed onto the bed behind his back and stretched out her legs with relief. With the plate on her lap she could eat and, with John's head just right beside her, she could keep changing the cloths.

After awhile the cloths were no longer drying out and were perhaps no longer necessary. She dropped both the cloths back into the small bucket and set it aside. Then she gently dried John's forehead and his hair with a small hand towel. As she finished off the last of her food she heard someone screaming down the corridor again, and someone else thumping against a wall, or perhaps they were the same person. Voices murmured, too soft through the walls for her to understand, as friends, family and nurses tried to comfort those lost in the ravages of their treatment reactions.

John groaned beside her and she leant forward to look down at him. His bleary eyes opened and closed.

John nodded and rolled over slightly until his head bumped against the outside of her hip and he looked confused for a moment. She reached down and stroked his hair again.

"It is alright John, just rest, it will all pass soon."

He looked up at her with wide darkened eyes and nodded. His pupils were huge leaving no doubt about the medicine's affects. He smiled again.

"Ceiling still sparkling?" She asked.

He looked to the ceiling above her and nodded. She continued to run her fingers over his hair, his scalp warm under her fingertips. She watched his wide eyes studying the ceiling with a focus that made her really curious as to what he was seeing. Then finally he sighed as her fingers drifted over his forehead, his eyes shifting back to her face. He watched her with a dazed focus, his eyes roaming around her features.

She felt a little warm herself under his intense scruntiny, but continued to run her fingers lightly over his forehead, following up from the strong lines of his brow, up into his short dark hair. He sighed and his eyes drifted closed.

"Lorne okay?" He asked sleepily.

"The nurse said he is already in the recovery room and is well," she informed him. "Though she suggested he may need to remain there for a while yet."

"Good," he uttered. "Lorne's a good guy."

"Yes, he is," she replied with a smile.

"I miss Rodney and Ronon," he muttered, though his tone was far from sad, instead he sounded like he was barely present in his body.

"I miss them as well," she said.

He sighed again, the sound long and drawn out. "Glad you're here though," he said.

She smiled down at his closed eyes. She was glad she could make this situation easier for him in anyway, and it was a nice compliment to hear from John.

He let out a sleepy moan and turned his head to rest his cheek further against her side. She smiled down at him and stroked a hand over his head. It was nice to be able to touch him like this - to give comfort.

"I am glad you are here too," she whispered. Down the corridor she heard someone wailing in despair. She had been more than surprised to see John react to the Sweet Grain treatment like this. For she had imagined that like Halling he would have been forced to relive painful times from his past, and she knew John had more than a few. She had seen pain in his eyes that being trapped in this galaxy had only added to. She regretted that he felt trapped here, yet she could not deny her guilty pleasure that he was here. She did not like herself for being glad of his misfortune, but at the same time she had always believed in moving with the flow of life. She had tried to flow with the knowledge that he did not want her as a woman, only as a friend and colleague. But, it remained difficult for her to deny what she felt for him and as he lay here totally at ease and trusting in her, she wished they shared more.

She stroked over his head again and drew in the unique scent of John. "I am sorry you can not return home, John," she whispered to him.

He shifted a little, settling his body a little further in her direction and one of his hands slid across her legs sliding down to the far side of her thighs, and he hugged her to him. A small thrill went through her at the touch, the heat of his hand penetrating through her trousers to her skin beneath. "We'll get through it," he muttered against her side. She smiled down at him, seeing his sleepy dreamy face, his long dark eye lashes lying against his cheeks and she heard him humming again.

Then he began to sing once again, his voice sleepily cheerful.

"You can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman's man, no time to talk." He giggled that deep throaty sound again and Teyla grinned at him in amusement.

"Stayin' alive," he sang out into the room.

--------

Lorne

He had not had a good day. Now he sat in a room filled with other people who also looked like they had had the worse day of their life. Most of those who had exited the main clinic areas, hurrying through the recovery room without stopping, had looked alright, besides looking exhausted and anxious to leave. Those that remained around him looked haunted.

He wanted to wait for John and Teyla, though he also was quite happy to remain in recovery for a while as well. Haunting images of the treatment's affects lingered. If it had not been for Fera's presence he wasn't sure that he could have gotten through that experience. Tortured by invisible enemies and terrified memories of his past he had remained squeezed into the corner of his private room, with Fera by his side. He wasn't sure how long he had been in that room, but when finally his mind had seemed to return to him, and his senses had stopped burning so intensely, he had felt deeply embarrassed. Fera had sat with him on the bed and they had talked a little and he had shared some stories from his past. She had held him and her soft supportive words had helped.

He turned to look at Fera napping lightly beside him, her back against the cool stone wall. He owed her big time and she had said she would consider how he could best repay her, her eyes sparkling. That sounded interesting, but the joking couldn't hide the fact that he knew he would have a few interesting nightmares after this.

"Evan." He looked up to see Teyla walking into the recovery room. She looked very tired, but was smiling. Fera stirred beside him and they both stood up. Lorne was looking to get out of here as quickly as possible.

"How's John?" He asked.

Teyla looked back and they watched John step through into the recovery room rather slowly and he smiled at him. The man looked slightly drunk.

"How you feeling?" Lorne asked him as John arrived into the small huddle.

John's hair was standing up in spikes, even more so than normal and he rubbed a hand over his face as his blinked slowly. He looked like he had been sleeping for hours…after taking something very strong.

"Better. Tired," John replied his voice deep and a little slurry.

Lorne narrowed his eyes at him. "You okay?"

"The doctor said it would wear off soon," Teyla replied for him. "He had one of the more relaxed reactions to the medicine."

Lorne experienced a vivid flash of how he had felt in that room and quickly squashed it down. "Oh?"

"Made me a little stoned," John supplied waving his hand to suggest he had only been slightly affected. That the gesture made him waver on his feet counteracted that meaning. Teyla and Fera both put a supportive hand on John's back to stop him falling backwards. "I'm good," John told them as he pulled himself up straight. "Let's go home."

"Sounds good," Lorne replied with feeling. Together the four of them turned towards the clinic exit and filed out into the sunlight outside.

"Not that I mean Earth of course," John added from the back of their line. "I mean Athos. Though, it's not actually Athos. Or is it? It's got Athosians on it," there was a chuckle at that.

Lorne looked over his shoulder at his commanding officer. "You sure they gave him the same thing as the rest of us?"

Teyla nodded with a controlled smile on her face. "He was explaining how colours tasted earlier."

Lorne shook his head at that and continued stomping his heavy tired body away from the clinic towards the Gate in the distance.

"Of course home was really Atlantis for a long time," John continued to nobody in particular. "So, technically I suppose I could mean any of the three."

"Sir," Lorne called back to him.

"Yes, Major?" John replied automatically.

"You're starting to sound like McKay."

There was a pause before the protest. "Hey!"

--------  
TBC

NB - Lyrics quoted were taken from Johnny Cash's versions of 'Solitary Man'. 'In My Life' and 'Hurt', as well as from the Bee Gee's 'Stayin' Alive'.


	8. Mera

Two Princes

Chapter 8 - Mera

------

John

The rains had been a constant background soundtrack to the two days following Sakura. John had slept most of the first day back, waking up from dreamless sleep to the patter of raindrops falling onto the tent above his bed. The sound was deeply relaxing and only helped to ease him back into sleep each time. The blissful relaxed state he had been in from the treatment had lasted for almost the entire first day back. It had been a far lessened version than what he had experienced in the clinic, but it had lingered nicely.

Teyla had visited him throughout that first day, waking him to offer him water and food. After eating a little he would drift back into that soft deep place of sleep once again. Teyla had seemed a little concerned, but he had assured her that he felt fine, very good in fact. It did not seem to satisfy her all that much, but he couldn't worry about anything the way he had been feeling. He couldn't remember ever having been so at peace before. Nothing had worried him that day except the occasional wonder as to how much time had passed since he had last woken up.

That was until the first night and as he had woken a few times he had been aware that the bliss was completely receding and his mind was returning into focus. The dreams had begun then – in which he had been tumbling along pushed by a forceful winter wind, forcing him backwards despite his desperate attempt to make headway through the snow. The vast stretch of snow ahead of him seemed unreachable and he knew that somewhere underground Teyla was trapped. Yet, the wind was too strong. He woke briefly then, as if his consciousness had recognised that he was trapped in a nightmare and needed to be reminded that it wasn't real. He blinked open his heavy eyelids to see the tent around him and the sound of rain. He slipped back into the wintery dream again though the reality of the weather outside mixing feverishly with his dream. This time he had been lost in the tunnels under that mountainside. Teyla was cold and weak in his arms and he had to get her to safety, but he didn't know where he was or where he was going. The urge to rest, to lie down with her and just stay warm was overpowering. But, he needed to get them home.

Staggering onwards he came across Rodney muttering over a small pile of sticks, complaining that he was unable to get a fire going. John had wanted to help, but he needed to get out of the tunnels and so passed by, telling Rodney to follow them. However he turned back to see the tunnel once again empty and Rodney had vanished. In the distance, echoing vaguely against the honeycombed tunnels, came the sounds of remembered voices and military issued boots hitting the tunnel floors. A soft scent of Atlantis drifted in the air and John looked around desperately trying to find the way back to the home he had loved for five years. Yet, there was nothing except empty tunnels and caves, all with the penetrating deep cold like Antarctica.

John's breath formed a small cloud around his face and he felt like his heart was thundering so loud that the sound was reverberating around the tunnels. The lost sounds of Atlantis had gone and a new worrying noise took its place. A small rumbling sound of a growl – there was something after John and Teyla in the tunnels.

John pulling Teyla onwards, looking back over his shoulder repeatedly to see what was chasing them. The scattering sound of dislodged stones could be heard then followed with a soft snarl. John abruptly knew it was Kanaan, knew he was out there and if he found John with Teyla…

Desperately John tried to get her moving faster, clasping her to him, still trying to warm her chilled body. But, she was heavy and barely conscious now, so he reached down and set his arm around the back of her knees and lifted her up into his arms. It was difficult to carry her when they were all bundled up, but he got her into a small cave. The walls emanated their chill around them. They had laid together in the sleeping bag in here he remembered, vivid flashes of memories of her half naked body added details to the dream images. He hadn't really focused on those details at the time, but now he felt the brushing of her naked skin against his as he held her to him in the sleeping bag. She felt so fragile in his arms.

Teyla rolled her head back and looked up at him. Her skin was deathly pale and her lips blue with the cold. Kanaan's growls echoed outside the cave, as the deep breath stealing cold drew away John's strength. He would die here away from Earth, Atlantis or even the Athosian camp that was now home. Teyla was growing colder and he hugged her closer, but she fought back against him, pushing her self away.

"You will only hurt me, John," she told him.

"Stay with me, Teyla," he told her as he had done so frequently when she had lain so cold and still in the sleeping bag with him. He just wanted to keep her warm.

"Do not ruin this, John," Teyla told him, her cold blue tinged hands pushing against his chest. "You should go back to Earth."

He tried to pull her back into the warmth of his embrace again, but she continued to weakly resist and her skin slipped out from his hands like it was layered with ice. She slipped from his grasp and he let her go. She fell back away from him onto the floor of the cave - her eyes still locked on him and he watched in horror as her last breath gasped out of her body, misting around her face. Her open eyes frosted over with ice as her life left her. Out in the tunnels Kanaan's scream echoed violently.

John woke, his body feeling hot and sweaty. He sat up on his Athosian bed and gasped for breath, reminding himself over and over again that it had only been a dream. She was alive and well, and they had both survived those caves and tunnels. The peace of his body and mind found through the treatment had certainly gone, leaving him shaking in the wake of the nightmare. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and took steadying gulps of air. The rain had stopped falling outside, and it was clearly late night, as outside nothing stirred. It was far too quiet. He stood up on weakened legs and walked across his tent to the exit, pulling aside the flap and damp late night air rushed in around him. The coolness was enlivening and seemed to help as he stood silently looking out at the row of quiet dark tents across from his. Everything was silent.

He drew in the spring air and for the first time since the Sweet Grain sickness had begun he could think clearly again. He was both grateful and disappointed. There had been something so easy about being so happy with the world. Everything had seemed beautiful and he had felt like he understood everything. Everything had had a purpose and place, and he had been happy with his.

Rubbing a hand over his face he stepped out into the cold, moving round to the nearby trees to answer the call of nature. The ground was cold under his socks, but he preferred the sting of it as it helped to remind him that he was awake, and that the nightmare had not been real. Of course the emotions held within it could not be so easily denied. He would though, for already he could feel his usual baggage settling into place.

As he moved into the line of dark trees he heard small creatures stir and scamper away from his shadow. After watering a shrub he stood for a short time in the still darkness, the only light supplied by one half shining moon over head. John tilted his head back to look up at the bright lunar half beyond the silhouette of the tree branches. He really was getting to enjoy living so close to nature. The Athosian life was one closely linked with their environment. On Earth, humans adjusted the environment to suit their needs, whereas here the Athosians lived in companionship with it. They only took what they needed and replaced what they took.

Teyla had adjusted easily to living in Atlantis and he had been surprised how easily he and Lorne had settled here. Sure he still missed the luxuries of Earth – those little details that occupied people's lives. He missed his music collection, reading magazines, his surf board and golf clubs, but he had lived without those distractions for long periods of his life before. He guessed it was the knowledge that he had lost them for good was what burned. But, it had been awhile since he had really missed those details. He wondered when he had stopped.

He moved quietly back out of the trees and back across the short distance to his tent. His feet were very cold now, so he got his tired legs moving a little faster to get back inside. The warmth of the tent was greatly welcomed and he pulled off his damp cold socks and looked down at his bare feet on the rug. Teyla had given him the rug, along with several wall hangings around his tent. He hadn't liked the bare dull colour of the inside of the tent and the brighter colours had helped him to stop the feeling that he was living back in military barracks. He wished for a moment that he was once again lost in the dazed reaction of the treatment, but he knew that was not a good thought to dwell on – that was how people got addicted to things. No, he had to face that his life still wasn't quite what he wished it was. Teyla came instantly to mind.

She had stayed with him through his treatment and though it was all a little dazed and confusing for him, he remembered her comforting touch over his forehead and head. He was pretty sure he hadn't said anything embarrassing to her during is treatment, for she had met his eyes willingly afterwards without concern or embarrassment. He vividly remembered how they had been around each other after his brush with the Iratus retrovirus. It had taken them a few days to be able to maintain normal eye contact, and they hadn't talked about the kiss since his apology.

When she had visited him in his tent following the treatment she had simply smiled as normal and had taken care of him. It had been nice actually; to have a woman care about his welfare so much again. He remembered one time when he had gotten flu when he had still been married to Nancy and she had studiously cared for him. Perhaps it had been the fact that he hadn't been unable to run off on a mission that she had enjoyed, but he had really appreciated her concern for him. That she had loved him enough to put up with him in that state.

He shook his head at his turn of thoughts and swung his legs back under the warmth of the bed sheet and covering blanket. The Athosians made good beds he had decided – the makeshift mattresses were deep and they had a series of different weather blankets that went over the main sheets. And the bed was long enough for his tall frame, unlike the one he had been forced to sleep on in Atlantis. He sighed as he laid back and nestled his head back into the pillow. As he once again grew still and sleepy he wished Teyla were beside him again, her cool fingers caressing over his forehead, her body nice and close.

--------

Lorne

Lorne stepped out from his tent and stretched his arms wide, his back and shoulders clicking. After three days resting following 'The Treatment' he was feeling back to his old self. He set out across the camp, nodding to people as they passed and confirming that he was feeling better for them. He had had several visitors during his recovery, which had been touching. The Athosians had truly accepted him and John into their camp.

"Morning, Major," John called out from the right and Lorne stopped and turned towards John.

"Colonel," he replied with a smile. John had visited yesterday with Torren, having recovered slightly quicker than Lorne.

"Decided to join us again?" John teased.

"I think that would be a question better suited to you. You feeling sober again?"

John smiled as he reached Lorne's side and they walked on together.

"It was medicine," John replied. The teasing had begun on the way back from the clinic and Lorne had every intention of keeping it going as long as he could.

"I'm sure that's what everyone tells the cops."

"You feeling up to some work today?" John asked.

"Not sure I'm up to much lifting, and I think I might have developed a slight phobia for Sweet Grain."

"I know what you mean," John replied.

Someone shouted out across the camp. Heads turned and Lorne saw people hurrying through the camp towards the open area at the far end. He and John were already jogging along behind.

In the centre of the open area they saw that someone had arrived from off world. The man was leaning over, his hands on his knees as he panted. Teyla and Halling were beside the man talking with him. Halling saw Lorne and John approaching and waved them over.

"These are the men," Halling said and then indicated the breathless man to them. "This is Aron from Mera. He says there are Wraith on their world."

A fear that had been quietly simmering in the back of Lorne's mind was suddenly realised – the Wraith had come back from the dead.

"Mera's been culled?" John asked.

Aron stood up straight now, his eyes worried. "There has been no large culling, but over the last two seasons we noticed that several of our people were disappearing into the woodlands. We thought that perhaps one of the predator animals had simply taken them, but we found no trace of animal prints. There were no bodies either, until two days ago when a friend of mine disappeared. We searched for him all day, until finally we found…" he man paused as he fought against the clear need to be sick at the memory. "Then we found his body hidden from sight. He had been feed on by a Wraith."

Athosians listening in around Lorne murmured worriedly.

"We assumed that a lone Wraith must have been responsible. We knew they can be killed if there are enough of us, so we organised a large hunting party and headed out into the woods. We found them this morning."

"Them?" John asked.

"Yes, they have a ship, buried into a bank, hidden by tree growth."

Lorne frowned. If there was a Wraith Hive ship on this guy's world, then why hadn't the Wraith simply done their usual culling?

"How big is the ship?" Lorne asked.

Aron's tired eyes shifted to him before he looked away, attempting to compare what he had seen to the camp around him. "From that tree to the second line of tents." Lorne shared a look with John.

"Too small for a Hive ship; it could be a cruiser?" Lorne suggested. John nodded thoughtfully, before turning back to Aron.

"How many Wraith were there?"

"I do not know exactly. They attacked us as we reached their ship, but they were thin, slower than Wraith I've seen before. We also saw carcasses around the ship, not just some of the missing people, but animals and even Wraith. They have been feeding on their own! Many of our party were terrified by that and by the Wraith's sudden attack. We lost three to them before we were able to escape." The man stepped towards Lorne and John.

"We have heard what those from Atlantis did to destroy so many of the Wraith, and that two of those from Atlantis now live among the Athosians. Can you help us?" The plea was begged honestly, the man's eyes watery.

Lorne exchanged a look with John.

"We will all discuss what can be done, but for now you need to rest, Aron," Teyla said into the pause. She guided Aron towards the communal tent.

Lorne turned to watch the man led away and saw all the anxious Athosian eyes on him. He turned to John. "Maybe a lone Wraith ship that survived our attack?"

John shrugged a shoulder. "We knew there'd be ships out there we didn't get, we couldn't have gotten all the Wraith, despite the Queens' boasts that they had gathered all of the Wraith forces. We know they have had different factions in the past."

"Like Todd's alliance of Hives," Lorne agreed as they made their way towards the communal tent.

"Todd said his alliance wouldn't last without strong leadership. Without him there 'guiding their hand' they probably were tempted by the Queen alliance," John whispered as they entered the tent.

Aron had been sat down at one of the large tables, a strong cup of tea before him. John moved to stand opposite the man.

"Tell me about this ship you saw."

The next ten minutes or so were filled with descriptions and questions. Aron thought he had seen at least ten Wraith, but adrenaline and inexperience made that analysis unreliable. Lorne had sketched out onto a piece of note paper the basic layout of the woodland, the location of the ship and where it was in relation to Aron's village. Aron pointed out small details like streams and gullies. Eventually Aron ran out of words, except to repeat his plea.

"Will you help us?"

There were benefits to not being the commanding officer in Lorne's mind, not that the two of them had kept to their ranks. John sat back in his seat opposite Aron and looked at Lorne, and then Teyla and Halling.

"We'll help as much as possible, Aron." Lorne knew the affidavit John meant – there was only two of them and they did not have a steady supply of weaponry and no back up. They would have to dig into the Athosian weapon cache, and there would be no way to replenish what they used. He and John had talked about contacting either the Genii or the Travellers for weapons if the need arose, but they had agreed that it would present a few risks. Risks they didn't need to take just yet.

John looked round at him. "We should go check it out. If it's just a small ship we might be able to take it out."

"Unless there is a Hive nearby?" Lorne pointed out, though he was nodding his head in agreement to the plan.

"If there was I'd have thought they would have tried a culling before now if that was the case."

"If this is a lone group of Wraith, we need to remove them as a threat," Teyla said as she leant forward over the table. "If we leave them on Mera, they will only continue to take more of Aron's people and grow stronger as time passes."

Lorne noticed a strange little expression cross John's face in response to Teyla's words, but it was gone as he turned back to Lorne.

"A reconnaissance mission is what's called for. Then we can tell what we're dealing with here."

Lorne nodded and he saw the look of relief cross Aron's face. However, he also saw the worried looks of the Athosians around them.

------

Teyla

Aron's planet was a dry world, though vegetation still flourished. The trees above Teyla shimmered as the thick coating over their leaves reflected the light and kept in valuable moisture. Two of three suns glowed in the sky overhead, but their heat did not penetrate down to the ground beneath the mighty trees.

She had volunteered along with four other Athosians to accompany John and Evan to Aron's world, but John had already made it clear that the three other Athosians were there as back up only. He and Evan had no intention of letting Athosians get hurt if they could help it and Teyla was grateful for that fact. Not for the first time did she feel a wave of nervousness at the prospect of what they were doing – they may have to engage the Wraith with no back up from Atlantis or from the Daedalus.

Aron had joined them as they had trekked quietly through the woodlands, past tall ancient trees. Aron was leading them, at John's request, not directly towards the Wraith ship, but to somewhere nearby from which perhaps they could spy on the ship from a distance. That location was fast approaching. Teyla kept her head low as she followed Evan, John and Aron up another embankment, now cresting out of the vegetation and into the bright sunshine. Aron was staying very low and the others copied him as they made their way through high grasses, towards the far point of the embankment. Eventually they stopped, and she paused behind Lorne as the two lead men lay down on their bellies and shimmed through the grasses. She did the same, but not after giving Halling behind her the signal to wait and keep guard. Halling and two other of their most experienced people were armed with Earth P90s and knives.

Teyla lay onto her belly and made her way carefully forward into the tall grasses, worried for a moment that she would lose the others through the grass. But, soon enough she saw three pairs of boots and she crawled forward to stop on John's left. As she settled into place she saw how good a view they had. Parting the grasses a little she could see the lower lying level of woodland, but from this angle they could also see under the canopy some distance away. She squinted against the sunlight, her eyes taking time to adjust to studying details under the shade of the trees across a bright landscape. John and Lorne both had their binoculars out and were studying the trees.

"I see them," John replied to Aron on his other side.

"I count…four," Lorne whispered back. "Aron's right; they don't look right."

"Where are they?" Teyla whispered.

John handed his binoculars to her and she set her elbows to the ground and held the eye pieces to her face. John leaned closer.

"See that large ridge about three quarters of the way across the valley?" She nodded, picking it out without the binoculars and then through them. "Drop down to two o'clock and under that slightly raised line of smaller trees."

She followed his instructions and turned the dial on the binoculars to focus across the distance and finally under the trees she saw the side of what looked like a Wraith ship buried right into the ground. She scanned around it and saw several shapes, and focused on them to see they truly were Wraith. Two were the larger masked breed, but the other two were the slightly shorter warrior Wraith.

"They look thin," she noted. "Perhaps from hunger?"

"I can make out ten human bodies and…a dozen of a deer like creature," Lorne reported. "So, they're definitely feeding."

"Teyla focused on the human bodies, despite the distaste. She re-focused the binoculars. "It looks like there is more than one feeding mark on the bodies."

"Really?" John asked. His fingers touched her hand, silently requesting to have the binoculars back to see for himself. She handed them over to him.

"Group feeding," Lorne said with a shudder.

"I don't remember ever seeing that before," John muttered.

"We have not," Teyla replied. "One Wraith feeds on one victim."

"I'm looking at the Wraith bodies," Lorne said. "I'm only seeing one feeding mark, same for the animals."

A thought occurred to Teyla and she looked over John's back towards Aron. "Aron were your people affected by a sickness a year or two ago?"

Aron nodded. "Yes, we lost a large percentage of our population."

"Michael's virus," John muttered. "It just keeps coming back to haunt us."

"What if these Wraith are afraid to feed on humans since they know many are affected by the virus? That may explain why they are not feeding on so many people."

"And the first feeding mark is a tester?" John asked her looking round from his binoculars.

"Perhaps," she suggested. "Perhaps a lesser Wraith tries the human first and the others then know it is safe? Or perhaps they are all sharing what they know to be a safe human upon which to feed," she added with a shudder of her own.

"So they're feeding off animals and each other most of the time, but when they get desperate they grab a human?" Lorne asked.

"They certainly do not look well fed," Teyla pointed out.

"There's more coming out of the ship," John whispered with concentration. Teyla wished she could watch. "They all look thin and tired. I'm counting twelve now." Teyla chewed on her lower lip – that was more than they had hoped.

"There may be even more inside," Lorne replied. "Looking at the ship, it could be simply the top of a much larger ship buried under the trees."

"The trees are very old in this woodland," Aron added.

"But those growing over the top of what we can see of the ship are smaller. Maybe this ship never left this world when all the other Hives woke up when they leant about us?" Lorne suggested.

John sighed as he lowered the binoculars. Teyla reached for them. "Either way, we need to do something about them," John said. "If we leave them there they'll only be forced to take more people from Aron's village and then move on to others."

"We don't have the fire power to take on an entire ship full of Wraith if there is one buried under all that vegetation," Lorne replied.

"It's not a Hive ship, so maybe it is just a cruiser," John said.

"A cruiser still holds hundreds of Wraith," Teyla replied.

"They've probably thinned the herd though, if they're feeding on each other."

"Or it may be that there are hundreds of more Wraith hibernating in the ship," Teyla pointed out.

"True," John agreed. "But, we're never going to find out by staying up here."

She knew from his tone that he had a plan. She turned to him. "What are we going to do?"

John rubbed one hand against his chin as he looked out at the distant Wraith. "We don't have the firepower, but they don't know that."

"They may know that Atlantis has gone," Lorne said.

"If that's true then maybe they don't want Atlantis returning to deal with them," John said as he looked round at Lorne. Teyla watched Lorne smile back at him.

"It's worth a try," Lorne replied.

Teyla frowned. "What is worth a try?" John looked back out at the trees. "Are you thinking that we can threaten them and get them to leave?"

John looked round at her out the corner of his eyes and she knew he was ready for her argument. "I don't see what other choice we've got."

"Other than to bluff them into thinking we have Atlantis as back up?" She asked in surprise.

John gave one of his half shrugs. "It's worked before."

She frowned at him and then out at the hidden ship. "And what if it does not work?"

"Then we'll just have to come up with a different plan," John replied.

Teyla opened her mouth, but John was already crawling backwards, back through the grasses. She followed, Aron and Lorne beside her. Once they had all crawled back to join Halling and the others they all stood upright again, dusting themselves down.

Teyla looked at John and Lorne. "Perhaps it would be best to call in assistance from elsewhere."

"There's no one else, but the Travellers and the Genii," Evan said.

"Then we should contact them," Teyla suggested. She was not pleased with the idea, but it was more likely to work than walking into the Wraith ship and threatening them to leave or else. Though there was no easy way of contacting the Travellers and the Genii would likely want something in return.

John gestured off towards the distant ship. "Except that those twelve Wraith may be all there are and we can certainly take care of them with the Athosians' help. Hell, a well placed piece of C4 would take out half of them."

"Then why not simply do that?" Halling asked.

"If it turns out there's hundreds more of them awake underground in the ship then we'd be unleashing a whole lot of hurt on this world and will have no chance to bring in some back up," John replied.

Lorne turned to John. "We should head in now then, before it gets dark."

Teyla looked up through the tree branches and saw that one of the suns was nearing the horizon. She had no idea how long a day was on this world, but she agreed with Lorne. If they were going to go ahead with this plan then they should begin soon.

"Then we should head out now," she agreed reluctantly.

John turned to her. "You're not coming."

His words were a shock. "Why not?" She asked. "Of course I will accompany you both, you will need as much back up as you can."

She noticed that Evan had turned away a little as he busied himself checking over his vest and weapons. John had pulled himself up to his tallest height over her and he looked down at her with an expression that she had not seen since they had been working as a team.

"Exactly, we're going to need as much back up as we can, away from the ship. I need you to stay with Halling and the others. I need to know there's someone I trust with these weapons to watch our six."

She understood his argument, but it went against her nature to just stay back and wait to see what would happen to her two close friends. Besides she suspected that John was attempting to protect her.

Halling moved forward. "We will hold back and wait to hear from you." He gestured to the emergency radios John had dug out of the Jumper. The batteries had been switched off and had preserved enough power for this mission at least. The familiar weight of the radio against Teyla's side was comforting in a way.

John nodded at Halling and her. "Stay back, but keep a perimeter up to watch out in case there are any more Wraith who might be returning from a snack raid."

Halling nodded and Teyla saw the two other men behind him nod gravely – they understood what John and Evan were walking into.

John looked away and began running through checking his vest and sidearm as Lorne had done. Teyla still felt reluctant to stay back. She followed along behind John as he headed towards Lorne at the treeline.

"I will stay with you some way into the trees to keep in contact," she suggested.

John looked over his shoulder at her. "That's what the radios are for, Teyla." She knew from his tone that he knew she remained unhappy about being left behind. She bristled. She reached forward and grasped John's arm. He stopped and turned back towards her.

She kept her voice low so it wouldn't carry to the others. "You will need as much support as you can. You have no idea what you are walking into. It would be best if I stay closer in case you need cover when you retreat from the ship."

He studied her for a long minute. "Teyla, you need to stay out of this one."

"Why? You have always valued by skills in the team, do not insult me by pretending that you do not need this back up."

He moved slightly closer. "Teyla, if this goes south, one P90 is not going to save us." She didn't like what he was saying, but he was right. "You need to stay back," he added. "Torren needs his mother." It was a very real pain in her chest when she heard his soft comment. She wanted to protest, feeling both angry at him and at the situation.

"John, please reconsider this plan," she begged him, her hand once again on his arm. She could not remember feeling so worried about a mission before, but then they had always had some support, even if it was just Rodney and Ronon. As much as she trusted Halling and the others, she knew they had no real experience in this type of situation.

"If we can convince these Wraith that Atlantis is still out there then that message might get round to any other lone Wraith ships out there. If we can keep them afraid of what might happen if they show their heads, then perhaps we can keep the people of this galaxy safe for a little while longer, Teyla. We can keep kids like Torren safe."

She agreed with everything he said, but she wished to be alongside him to meet this danger. Yet, she knew he would not let her accompany him and she sensed Halling's closeness behind her. Though it annoyed her that they were manipulating her, she knew they were thinking of Torren as much as they were of her. Did they not realise that protecting John and Evan was protecting Torren? She would not live in a galaxy in which people would be idly sacrificed. Especially not John. She tightened her hold on his warm arm.

"This is dangerous," was all she could think to say. She knew John's mind was made up though, she knew him well enough now to know that to argue further would be futile. But, when this was over they would have a talk about how any future missions were to be handled.

He nodded at her comment and looked off to Halling behind her. He pulled his arm gently out from her hand and began to move away. "Maintain radio silence, unless absolutely necessary," John told them.

He moved towards Lorne, his P90 ready in his hands. A deep painful ache lingered in Teyla's chest and she stepped forward towards them again. She didn't plan to try and stop them now, but the idea of John leaving now and getting killed out there by hungry starved Wraith…

"John," she said to him desperately. He turned back to her and she saw his reluctance to look at her. He gave her one of his forced smiles.

"We'll be okay," he told her.

She wanted to say so much to him, but there were was an audience around them. For a flash she was tempted to run to him and pull his mouth to hers, but she held back the urge. She did not wish to endanger him in any way such as distract him from his mission by forcing something like that on him, something that might not be welcomed. Yet, she couldn't just say goodbye.

"Be careful," she told him.

He nodded and turned to leave, but paused. He let his P90 rest against his chest and reached up to his neck. He pulled the loop of his dog tags over his head and turned to her. He held the silver chain out to her, the two small rectangles at its end shinning in the sunlight. "In case we don't make it back."

She reached out for it, palm up and he dropped the chain into her hand. It was warm from his body heat. She closed her fingers around it tightly. "I will hold it for you for when you return."

He nodded again and turned away abruptly. He was never one for emotional scenes, but this one felt even thinner than usual from him. She feared then that he really did believe that he wasn't returning. He moved ahead and passed Lorne, who was looping his chain up from around his neck as well. He moved towards Teyla and held it out to her.

"Just in case…will you give them to Fera for me?" Lorne asked.

Teyla reached out with her other hand and took the chain from his fingers. "Of course," she replied. She gathered the chain together and tucked it into one of her pockets as he turned away and she saw him smile.

The two men headed off into the trees and she watched their backs, seeing the subtle changes to their posture that she had not seen for a long time. Just as they were almost out of view she saw John look back briefly and then he was gone. She opened her hand and looked down at his dog tags. She lifted the chain and looped it over her own head, settling the tags over her chest.

That done she reached for her P90 and as she readied the weapon, her mind focused once again on the mission. She turned to Halling and the others.

"We need to set up a perimeter in this direction..."

-------  
TBC


	9. The Wraith

Two Princes

Chapter 9 - The Wraith

-----

Lorne

They had hunkered down behind the last proper shelter before the Wraith ship and they watched the three Wraith still standing around outside the ship. Lorne guessed they were guards, though they seemed rather restless. Like Lorne needed any more reasons to be uncomfortable about this. He rechecked his P90 again, though he had already done so several times as he and John had carefully hurried through the woodland towards the ship. He and John had two clips for the P90, same for their sidearm, a couple of flash-bangs and C4 each. It wasn't much of an assault if they needed to make a quick exit, but it had been enough in the past he guessed.

He looked at John beside him. John was peering around a small sapling that was providing a tiny amount of cover as he studied the Wraith. "They look even thinner close up," he muttered.

"So what exactly is our plan? Lorne asked just to be sure.

John sat back from behind the sapling and looked at him. "The Wraith see two confident Atlantis representatives walk into their 'camp' and explain that it would be best if they moved along and not come back."

Lorne couldn't help but smile. "So, what, we're parking police? You're on a yellow line so move it?"

John smiled in reply as he checked the trees around them. Lorne wondered if John was expecting Teyla to have followed them, because it wouldn't have surprised Lorne. "Something like that," John replied. This is a no feeding zone."

Lorne nodded as the importance of the mission really settling in. "Right, so poker faces."

"You any good at poker, Major?" John asked.

"Haven't played in years, Sir," Lorne replied with as much of a poker face as he could manage. Everyone knew there had been poker games in Atlantis and that money was occasionally exchanged. Technically John was supposed to police that, but he had always turned a blind eye. Though, there had been a non-too-subtle warning when Woolsey had joined the city, when John had suggested that if there was any gambling in the city, which of cause he was sure there wasn't, then those parties should be extra careful with the regulation loving new city leader. John had quite openly gambled himself from time to time, as after all when else had there been in Atlantis, especially before they had been in regular contact with Earth.

John smiled at him and took a breath. "Right, let's do this."

They both stood up and walked out into the open. Lorne kept slightly back, his senses expanded as he attempted to watch as much of the forest as he could. John strode on ahead one hand hanging loose by his side, the other holding the P90 ready, but pointed slightly downwards. He looked like he was simply out for a walk.

"Hi there," John called as soon as they emerged in direct view of the ship. The Wraith jumped almost theatrically and turned toward them. Lorne noticed that there was only one stunner being lifted towards them. "I wouldn't go firing that too soon," John warned as he gestured to the large masked Wraith with the stunner. "It'll only bring in the cavalry." If the Wraith understood the exact term Lorne wasn't sure, but it certainly didn't fire, instead it turned to look almost nervously towards the warrior Wraith beside it. That wasn't normal.

The warrior Wraith moved aggressively forward, but Lorne could see how its long leather coat hung from its thin frame. The Wraith hissed at them.

John stopped a good few metres from them and Lorne stopped beside him, working to look relaxed yet cautious. They wanted look like they had plenty of back up and this was a simply a courtesy call.

"We're from Atlantis and we've heard that you've been causing some problems in these here parts," John called to them. Lorne almost smiled at the Colonel's turn of phrase.

There was a moment of consideration as the Wraith absorbed that. The warrior frowned at him and Lorne saw the yellow eyes studying their uniforms, which he and John had made sure to wear on this visit. "Atlantis is gone," it hissed.

"Really? How did we destroy your Super base and Hive ships then?" John asked.

The Wraith turned to look at each other and Lorne got the impression that there was a lack of decision making here. The warrior turned back to them. "Why are you here?"

"Well, as I said we got a call that you've been picked off members of the local villages and we really can't be having that. We thought we would give you a friendly reminder that that kind of behaviour is not welcome any more."

The warrior frowned again and then looked off to the surrounding trees.

"Our people won't attack you," John said. "Yet." The Wraith focused on him again. "Do you have a leader who can speak for all of your ship?" John asked.

There was a long considering pause. "Follow me," the Wraith invited.

Lorne felt a shiver of nervousness. Getting inside the ship would help them see how large it was, but it was seriously dangerous.

"We'd prefer to discuss this out here," John said politely.

"You wished to speak to our leader and they are inside," the Wraith argued.

"They can't come out here?" John asked. This was risky – not going in made them look weak and nervous, but at the same time going into the ship would show them how big it was and the real extent of what they were dealing with here.

"We'll need some insurance that you won't just feed on us," John went on when the Wraith didn't answer with anything other than a hiss. "Because if you do then the rest of my people on this planet won't take it well. They'll call in the rest of our force and that won't end well for you, will it."

The Wraith moved towards them a little, studying them and then abruptly spun on his heels and disappeared into the ship. Lorne exchanged a look with John as they waited, but the Wraith returned only a minute later.

"You will go unharmed," the Wraith announced, though Lorne thought he detected a good dose of Wraith sarcasm in the creature's voice.

John nodded and then reached for his radio, activating it clearly for the Wraith. "We're heading into the ship."

"Understood," Teyla replied and Lorne watched the Wraith warrior look back out at the trees.

Lorne followed John across the short distance to the ship and the warrior Wraith led them into the ship. The Wraith corridor was dark around them as they stepped through the small doorway into the ship. Lorne's eyes took a moment to adjust to the reduced lighting and he clutched his weapon to him in case a Wraith was about to take advantage of that moment of blindness. But, no attack arrived.

The corridor was slightly slanted with the angle at which the ship was buried in the ground. Already it was clear that the ship was bigger than they had guessed from above, but it also didn't feel like a Hive. The lighting around them was considerably lower than normal in a Wraith ship and Lorne wondered if the ship was damaged. As they followed the Wraith down a second corridor Lorne wondered how crazy he and John really were to have willingly walked in here with no back up.

As they turned a corner several more Wraith appeared, their eyes wildly fixed on the humans and Lorne got a look at the wild desperate look in their expressions. He lifted his weapon slightly. One Wraith lifted a hand towards them with a snarl.

"Leave them!" A stern voice called out from their right. It had been female.

Turning, Lorne and John looked round the corner and saw to their concern a Wraith Queen sat up on a throne. Lorne sensed John's hesitation, but then he quickly moved forward into the throne room. The room was lined with more male Wraith, standing watching them with dark looks, their bodies thin and malnourished. Lorne's heart rate jumped up an extra notch – lambs before the wolves.

John paused in the middle of the chamber and looked up at the Queen.

Lorne made sure to look round at the watching Wraith, assessing each of them carefully. He didn't get the feeling that they were ready to jump on the walking snacks, and Lorne got the weird feeling they were nervous. That actually worried him more than he would have thought.

He turned back to the Queen. She was considerably shorter and generally smaller than other Queens he had seen. She was covered in a layer of what looked like pulsing tendrils hugging her into her throne. Her eyes were partly open as if she was half asleep. Lorne watched the Queen's gaze slide over him and then turn to John.

"You say you are from Atlantis," the Queen's voice was stern, yet soft.

"Yes, you've probably heard of us," John told her with a smile.

The Queen sneered.

"There you go," John added.

"I am surprised to see you walking into our Hive, when normally you destroy us from space." There was a lot of bitterness in her voice.

"And you drain the life out of people. We hear you've been taking people from villages."

"We take what we wish," the Queen replied.

"I don't think so," John replied. "Not any more." The Queen hissed and Lorne tensed up a little more. John was pushing her more than Lorne had expected.

The crowd of Wraith circling the room shifted around them and all the hairs on the back of Lorne's neck stood up. The Wraith closest to his right opened its mouth and hissed and Lorne saw its sharp pointed teeth were speckled with saliva.

--------

John

John kept his eyes on the Queen. He could see she was breathing heavily as if it was an effort.

He hadn't expected there to be a Queen in here and for that first second he had seen her he had thought it was all over. A Queen would easily see through their bluff, if not from him then Lorne's mind would be read quickly enough. John had slammed his mind shut as quickly as he could as soon as he had heard the female voice. Then he had seen her and there had been no pressure through the front of his skull as there normally was with these things.

She looked too small and weak. Maybe she was a young Queen, too young to be running her own 'Hive'. The structure of the ship didn't feel like a Hive, unless it was a small one. Maybe it wasn't grown fully yet.

His eyes dropped to the pulsing tendrils over her, remembering the reports he had read on the theories of Wraith reproduction. He guessed she was struggling to talk and fertilise whatever the Queen's did to make more Wraith. Why was she making more Wraith when those she already had looked starved, and then he wondered what a weak looking Queen like this would produce. He glanced at the male Wraith near him and got his answer. They were thinner, indecisive and the Queen hadn't tried to use any of the psychic mojo on John, so maybe she wasn't capable. He wondered what that did to Wraith hierarchy.

If she was a weak, sick or immature Queen she still had the stern authority of one. John stepped further forward, ignoring the growing tension around the room.

"We're not here to destroy you, but to deliver a warning," he told her calmly.

The Queen's eyes narrowed even more to the point they were practically closed. "A warning?" There was a touch of laughter in her voice, so she had the Wraith ego fully developed at least.

"I'm sure you guys have all heard about how we took out most of your Hives and that nasty Super Base the Queen alliance had constructed. With that and the virus polluting your food source we decided that the rest of the Wraith weren't a threat any more." She had sneered at his mention of the virus and he wondered if Teyla's theory on the multiple feeding marks was right.

"We will grow strong again," the Queen replied.

"It'll take you a hell of a long time to do that though, won't it? Especially when we're told of your little bases and ships when they appear," John bluffed. He had no idea how many Wraith ships and bases there might be out there. He watched the Queen's face closely, but she gave away little.

"Atlantis has left our stars," the Queen replied surprising John, but he covered it with a shrug.

"We've turned our interests elsewhere. Now the Wraith are defeated we're happy to just move on, but if you get to be a problem again then we're going to have to return our attention back here. Look, we don't really care about small ships like yours. As long as you behave and stop feeding off people, then we'll stay away."

He watched her face. Her cheek twitched a few times and she drew her dry lips back, showing the pointed ends of her teeth. "Are you trying to convince us that you will not destroy us as you did our sisters?"

"We've presented the Wraith with what you need to get rid of your need to feed off humans." He saw the look of interest cross her face – she hadn't known about that. "And you can feed off other creatures, so there's no need for you to kill people anymore."

"We are Wraith," the Queen protested.

"And your people are near extinction," John pointed out. Her face dropped into what looked like the Wraith equivalent of a poker face. "It's time for your people to change and for everyone to just get along." He gestured to the full room.

There was a long silent pause as the Queen studied him and he waited, one hand in his pocket to look relaxed. His other palm was sweating around the butt of the P90. If these Wraith attacked them, he and Evan wouldn't have a chance. All he could do would be to send out an alert to Teyla and the others, and try and take as many Wraith out as possible.

"What do you propose?" The Queen asked and John felt a flutter of relief, but it was far from over yet.

"You people need to close up shop and leave this planet. I assume this ship can fly?" The Queen angled her head in agreement. "Then you move along and leave this world and we won't destroy you all."

"What will stop you from destroying us once we leave the planet?" The Queen asked. John could hardly believe this was working!

"You have my word, but if we hear of you attacking people again – then all deals are off."

"And what would you have us do? Starve in the wastes of space?"

"There are Wraith who are working on the cure for the need to feed, I suggest you find them." John wasn't sure if there really was a working cure for the hunger out there still. It had killed Todd's crew and almost him, but there had been others who had the cure data and samples. Some Wraith ingenuity and they would be able to find out how to make it work for them, that was if there were any more out there. "Then at least you won't have to worry about your food source been contaminated," he added, a gentle reminder and a subtle suggestion that he and Lorne might not be too tasty.

"Or we could simply wait until the immunity of our cattle is lost," the Queen replied.

"I wouldn't recommend that," John argued. "We're pretty sure it's already passing through to the next generation." The Queen's cheek twitched again at that. She looked away from John and the deep silence returned. The tendons of her neck stood out, her bright white skin making her look truly sickly.

"Maybe we will develop a resistance to this immunity," the Queen said abruptly into the silence.

It was a slightly worrying thought. "Maybe you will, but if we hear about human experiments then we will track you down. And you know we're fully capable of taking you all out, especially now. But, if you leave us alone - we'll leave you alone."

The Queen studied him closely again and he couldn't help but feel that she was tempted to kill him. John wanted to argue further, give her more reasons why she should listen to him and just leave. However, he knew that was a sign of weakness. He had presented his case and it was up to her to decide.

"We heard that your ship was destroyed during the attack on the Super Base," she asked.

John nodded. "Yes, but we got all our people off in time, and we've got more ships."

She regarded him a little longer and then looked away to Lorne beside him. From him she looked to her Wraith males.

She looked back at John. "We will need to feed before we leave," she told him.

John kept a tight hold on his reaction. "You can grab some animals before you leave, but nothing more. Put your people in hibernation if you need to."

She considered him a little longer, then she tilted her head. "Very well."

John nodded, surprised relieved and excited all at once. "Then we'll go back to our people and wait to watch you leave."

The Queen inclined her head again. "And you will not attack us when we leave."

"I promise we will keep a discreet distance. Once you've left the planet, go straight into hyperspace, and we can all go on with our lives."

The Queen nodded and her eyes closed. Taking that as his dismissal John turned from her cautiously. The male Wraith around the room looked less than convinced as they watched John walk towards the exit, Lorne just behind him. John's heart hammered in his chest, but he tried to keep his steps even and measured. The warrior who had led them into the chamber led them back into the corridor and through the ship until they saw sunlight in the distance. John's breath was almost clogging up his throat with his eagerness to get out of the ship. As they stepped out into the fresh air of the woodland he noticed that the lighting inside the ship was increasing. He kept walking though, straight away from the ship and no one tried to attack him or Lorne.

The distance from the ship grew and grew and there still wasn't any attack.

"Remind me never to play poker with you," Lorne said quietly.

They rounded a bend and began to walk faster. John looked back over his shoulder, but still there was nothing. They kept up their fast pace until they reached some shelter and John crawled up a small embankment to peer back towards the ship. Lorne scrambled up next to him.

"I can't believe that really worked," Lorne whispered in disbelief.

"I know," John replied. His heart was still racing and his palms were damp, causing the dirt of the embankment to stick to his hands. He pulled out his binoculars and they watched as a few Wraith appeared out of the ship's exit and disappeared into the woods. John watched them worriedly. "Let's just hope they're just grabbing a snack before they leave."

"Either that or they're looking for us," Lorne suggested.

John lowered his binoculars and activated his radio. "Sheppard here, we're clear."

"It is good to hear your voice," Teyla replied over the airwaves. "And the Wraith?"

"They've agreed to leave. We just need to keep an eye on them, make sure they actually go." There was some movement near the ship and John saw two Wraith return with some deer hanging from poles between them. That they weren't carrying the food over their shoulders said a lot to John about how weak those Wraith really were.

He activated his radio again. "Can you send Hakon back to the Jumper and bring it out here. I want to make sure the Wraith actually leave orbit." Hakon was one of the few Athosians who had the Ancient gene, though it was considerably weaker than John's. John had taken the time in instructing Hakon and the others on how to work the basic controls of the Jumpers. He trusted Hakon to be able to at least fly the Jumper the short distance from Aron's village to a nearby space in the woods.

"He is heading back now," Teyla reported. "He will set down in the tall grasses where we were earlier."

"Great. Let me know when he's there," John replied as deactivated the connection.

"They're inside," Lorne reported. John looked for himself. "They had two more deliveries. I'm guessing they've been keeping some animals nearby."

John nodded. "Stunners are an easy way of catching prey."

The last of the Wraith disappeared inside and John watched as a hatch closed shut. There was a long pause and then the ground began to rumble. John was just beginning to worry whether he and Lorne should move further back when ahead of him the ground shifted, the landscape lifting and suddenly a hell of a lot of trees and shrubs and earth were being dislodged.

"Leg it," John shouted, but Lorne was already moving. They dashed straight away through the trees as branches, piles of dirt and whole trees slid from the rising ship behind them. The sound was horrible, the sound of a landslide, but fortunately he and Lorne had gotten far enough from the new crater that was fast appearing in the landscape

When dirt stopped peppering his back John slowed down and looked back. Piles of displaced trees and soil were piled up into a huge artificial bank and above it he watched the Wraith ship rise up into the sky. He watched a few trees slid off the top of the ship and followed their course as they crashed down in the distance. He watched the ship pause in the sky and turn, before it headed off at a sharp angle up towards space. John shook his head looking around at Lorne in amazement.

"Who knew Atlantis could scare Wraith so much," Lorne muttered.

John smiled with him. "Let's get to the Jumper, I still don't trust that Queen."

"Good idea."

The two of them hurried back through the large ancient trees back the way they had come earlier. Disbelief and amazement still were his predominant emotions, but John couldn't help but smile that their bluff had worked. Maybe that short stay in Vegas all those years ago had paid off. He had to wonder how he would have fared had he stayed in that bright city a little longer to try his luck.

"Hakon is here with the Jumper," Teyla reported over the radio, but John had already felt the shift of air through the trees that spoke of the Jumper landing.

He and Lorne exited the trees to see a large flattened area of grasses at the back of which a hatch was lowering from empty air. John ran towards the ship and saw Hakon emerging.

"Good flying," John said to the man, who looked even more relieved than John felt.

"John," Teyla called out from behind him. He paused halfway up the ramp as Lorne ran into the Jumper and Hakon exited very quickly.

"We're heading up into orbit to make sure they leave as promised, and we'll stick round for an hour or so just in case they try and sneak back. Head back to the village with Aron and we'll stay in contact," John told her.

She nodded, though he could tell once again that she would have preferred to have joined them. John turned back to the Jumper and saw that Lorne had already powered everything up again ready to leave. All being well they would watch the Wraith ship jump away, never to return.

-------

Teyla

Teyla watched the now de-cloaked Jumper descend from the evening sky. The Gate was active near her as Aron's village elders once again thanked them for chasing away the Wraith. Teyla was still a little surprised that the ploy had worked, for it had been madness. Not that she hadn't walked alone into a Wraith ship herself before, and then she had only Todd beside her. But, at least then she had had back up of a sort on hand. Watching John and Evan walk off to that ship alone, to be surrounded by starving Wraith had not been a highlight of her life and she wished that she could stop the pounding of her heart still. She looked into the distance where even at this distance the edge of the new crater could be seen.

Above her the Jumper buzzed overhead hovering in the air and she could see John and Evan through the front window. They both smiled and John waved a 'you first' hand towards the open Gate.

She turned back towards the Gate, received yet another thank you from the village leader and followed Halling and the others through the Gate. They stepped out into the quiet forest of their home world and Teyla finally sighed with relief, though her heart rate still felt irregular. She walked away from the Gate creating space for the Jumper to come through and sure enough a few minutes later the Jumper moved slowly through the Gate.

"We'll see you at the camp," John said over the radio, as there were plenty of trees between the Gate and the camp.

"We will see you there shortly," Halling was the one to reply over the radio in his hand. With that the Jumper lifted straight upwards and she watched it cloak. She saw Halling frown.

"He will take it up into orbit briefly to make sure no Wraith have turned up here," Teyla told him with a smile as she headed for the path to the camp.

"But surely you and the others with The Gift would sense any Wraith presence," Halling pointed out.

"John prefers to be cautious," Teyla replied as she wandered down the path, Hakon's back ahead of her. "In some cases anyway," she added, for certainly today John had behaved almost recklessly. No, that was not the right word – courageously would probably be more correct, but she could not really admit that right now, for she still felt anxious about it. As she walked, John's dog tags bounced against her chest where they hung beneath her jacket.

"I suppose in some instances caution is necessary," Halling said behind her after a long pause. Teyla tried to pull her attention away from her dark thoughts and nodded.

"Yes," she replied. Halling didn't say anything else and she suspected that he had meant more by his statement than simply a comment on caution in general, but she was in no mind to get into a debate. They walked on silently.

It had only been three days ago that John had lain sick in his bed, his head resting against her. That soft gentle man seemed so far removed from the tough military man who had strode into a Wraith ship pretending that he was a real threat to them. He had made her stay well away from that Wraith ship mainly because he didn't want her to be hurt. She felt a strange mix of frustration and anger towards him for that. She knew that it had much to do with her attraction and care for him, but that only seemed to fuel her frustration. Was he always going to do this now? Now they were no longer in Atlantis, would he keep her apart from the work that might need doing? Would he always insist in walking into danger unguarded?

She shook her head at her turning thoughts. She was being foolish - she was just emotional from what had just happened. She clasped John's dog tags through her top, stopping them from beating repeatedly against her. It wasn't the adrenaline or the danger of the Wraith that had affected her; it was that moment when he had walked away. Twice before she had said goodbye to him like that and all three times he had returned. She feared that a fourth time would not end so well.

She had almost told him of her feelings this time though – they had hovered on her tongue desperate to be spoken at last. She had wanted to rush to him and kiss him with a strong physical urge that had been shocking for her. For he had been about to walk into danger perhaps never to return and she doubted she would ever allow him to do that again. Not without him knowing. The possibility of that conversation was just as frightening for her as facing the Wraith.

She wished to the Ancestors that she had truly interpreted the signs from him over the years correctly that he cared for her, yet things had never changed. She had realised that perhaps it was her perceptions that were confused, that she was seeing what was not there. He had given her his dog tags today, but surely that had been so that had he been lost there would be a record of him, that if the day came when his people returned here that she would be able to hand the chain to them. Perhaps his friends and family back on Earth would find some comfort from seeing them. In the event of that happening she imagined she would have liked to have kept one of the tags for herself, but it would only have been a testament to her dreams and not to reality. Up until that moment when he walked away to the Wraith he had been her friend, but officially nothing more.

She had waited a long time for him to say something to her over the years in Atlantis, but it had never arrived, so she had given up, believing that she been mistaken. Kanaan had stepped into her personal life and had changed everything. Torren was a wonderful blessing for her, but he had also changed things between her and John. And now that she was no longer in a relationship with Kanaan, she was once again back in the same place…wishing and wanting.

The path opened up into the flat open space of the camp and she saw that half the camp were there waiting. Hakon was already recounting the story to them all and they rushed forward to greet Teyla and Halling home. She received their relief at their return, but she could not help but feel tense waiting for John's return. It did not take long, for she heard the alien sound of the Jumper overhead and she saw a shimmer against the distant trees on the other side of the camp. Within moments her people were crowding around Evan and John as they appeared from between the tents. Though the sun was almost gone, people emerged from their tents to hear the tale of what had happened. All together they had herded into the communal tent and Hakon and Halling had told them the tale, only stopping to ask John and Lorne to fill in the details of what had happened in the Wraith ship. John had been reluctant, saying only that he had presented the Queen with an offer that she accepted. Evan however decided to describe the story more completely. He wove the story together telling them all the details, describing the inside of the Wraith ship, and about the Queen. He painted the details of the story as he did one of his paintings, creating an image that was filled with vivid detail and intrigue.

The moonlight was filling the sky by the time the story was over and someone had suggested that they should celebrate. Ruus wine was brought out and the atmosphere turned to rejoicing life. Teyla excused her self at this point to carry Torren to bed, who had sat on Kanaan's knee listening to the story, though she doubted he could understand most of it.

The boy protested leaving the celebration, though he had been falling asleep. One woman had volunteered to baby sit all the children, and so Teyla carried the grumbling Torren to the woman's tent. Several small cots and beds had been put up around the large tent and already several other children were occupying them. Teyla settled Torren on a cot and helped him into his night clothes. Kanaan would collect him later, so for now this was her time with her son. She sat on the cot with him and rocked him in her arms. The baby sitter began talking about how wonderful the story had been and how the whole team had been so brave to face the Wraith with such small numbers. Teyla had nodded along as she rocked Torren to sleep. Eventually he when was deeply asleep she settled him under his blankets and kissed his forehead.

She stepped out into the night, lit tonight with burning campfires and the air was filled with joviality. Yet, she could not seem to find the joy herself. She was thoroughly pleased with the outcome of the mission, yet it had brought up far too many issues for her. The dog tags bounced against her as she walked between the tents. She had forgotten to return them to John and Evan's were still in her pocket.

Part of her wanted to simply climb into her bed, but she should appear at the party for a while, after all it would be too noisy for her to fall asleep so soon. Yet, she needed to get out of these clothes, the dirt and grass stains on her trousers and jacket would need to be cleaned out and she liked the idea of getting out of them and into something fresh and clean. Plus a little space to gather her thoughts and re-centre herself would be useful.

She reached her tent and pushed inside sighing with relief. She removed the sidearm from her belt, ensuring it was on safety and returned it to the high shelf of her wardrobe well away from questing toddler hands. She pulled off her jacket and laid it over the back of a chair and leant down to untie her boots.

"There you are," John said from behind her making her jump. She turned to see him in the entrance to her tent, which she realised she had not properly closed.

"I wished to change out of these clothes," she replied as she turned her back on him and moved away towards her wardrobe.

"You coming back to the party?" He asked.

"Yes, I had to put Torren to sleep and change first," she said, her eyes focused on selecting the top she wished to change into. John was quiet again for a long moment, though she heard him move further into her tent.

"You mad at me?" He asked bluntly.

"No," she lied.

She looked round to see him narrow his eyes at her and she looked back to her clothes. "I am simply tired, it was a difficult day." She regretted behaving this way and so took a breath, pulling herself together to put on a polite face. She looked back at him. "Really I am fine. Go back to the party and I will be along shortly."

John kept that narrowed eyed gaze on her and he crossed his arms over his chest. "No, not buying it," he stated.

She pulled out a top and set it down on her bed and turned back for a skirt or trousers, she had yet to decide.

"You're mad because I made you stay outside the ship?"

The way he phrased it brought back a lot of the frustration she felt. "No, John, I understood your reasons and your request for me to stay back from the ship." She tried to keep her tone calm, but she was aware she had not quite succeeded. She was surprised at her own lack of control tonight.

"It worked better for just Lorne and I to walk into that ship, made us look casual and…you know…relaxed about walking into a Wraith ship," he said. He had moved slightly closer again.

She turned towards him. "I understood, but in future we will not be handling any situations in the same way."

A slightly annoyed expression acrossed his face. "It was a tactical situation and I made the call."

"This is not a military team any more, John. There are no ranks or orders to be followed, so your opinion is not always the final decision," she pointed out. She was surprised at her self for arguing with him, but it felt good to get annoyed at him – it allowed some emotion out at least.

"You know that in any mission there has to be a chain of command," he stated.

"And that chain ends with you?" She asked.

He looked away briefly and then back. "In that kind of situation I think I have the most experience in leading missions and in dealing with Wraith."

She dropped a pair of trousers onto the bed without really having chosen them. "I think that I have just as much experience in dealing with Wraith, John. In fact I was the one to walk alone into a Wraith ship alongside the questionable ally of Todd as my only back up."

He frowned at her, stepping forward in protest. "We were on the next ship," he argued. "One call and we would have been over there."

"Not once the ship went into hyperspace," she pushed.

"And that was my fault?!" He asked.

She sighed and turned back to her wardrobe – a coat, she would need a coat as well. "No, John, of course that was not your fault."

That did not seem to help. "But today would have been my fault?"

She was getting confused by this conversation. She sighed. "No, I did not mean that."

"Yes, you did," he pushed, surprising her again. He moved across the rest of the tent to stand near her. "You've never protested against a chain of command before."

He had never put him self in that kind of danger before. Or was that true? She wasn't sure any more. In Atlantis they had all taken extraordinary risks to the point where they had been almost common place. Every one of them had been prepared, at a single moment's notice, to put their life on the line for each other. She had agreed with the rules of John's military, had followed their regulations as part of their fight against the Wraith and other enemies. But, now away from those rules and regulations there was only her life and no separation from her feelings and worries anymore.

"This is not Atlantis any more, John," she whispered.

"No, it's not, but there's always gonna be dangers and risks, you know that. You grew up in a camp like this with the threat of the Wraith over all your heads."

She nodded, old painful memories and fears returning with the thought. She still missed her parents though they had been taken so very long ago. She had lost so much, so many friends had gone. She remembered that song John had been singing during his treatment – about friends and lovers lost. She had hoped to ask him to repeat it again, but had forgotten until now and this was hardly the time.

"If the Wraith or someone, or some_thing_, attacks us in the future I need to know that I can rely on you Teyla," John said. "That you'll do as I tell you to in that kind of situation."

She looked up at his worried and slightly angry face. "As you must reply on me as well."

"I do," he replied, though he looked away a little as he said that.

"John," she pushed.

"I do," he added meeting her eyes. "But I think that when it comes to a tactical situation that my decisions should be followed."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Which results in the kind of risks like today." She understood his meaning and his point, yet she knew he would be justifying putting himself at such risk again.

"What else would you have suggested, Teyla?" He asked heatedly.

"I should have gone in there with you. One less person outside would have made no difference and having someone with the ability to read a Wraith's mind would have been helpful."

He tilted his head in partial acknowledgement to her point but still argued on. "But, you needed to stay outside. You've got Torren to think about now."

"That does not make me more valuable than anyone else. Everyone here is a mother, a father or family member. This is not your military – we can not avoid these emotions." A hot flush went through her at the way she had inadvertently phrased her point.

He sighed heavily. "I'm not saying that Teyla, I'm saying that we need to keep a clear chain of command in a battle situation…"

She stared up at him. He was gesturing with his hands trying to keep the argument on track as far as he was concerned, but he did not realise that she was arguing against something else entirely. Her body felt hot and the desperate need to shout at him was almost overwhelming. He was arguing on about having command structures, but that only meant that he would always be walking into Wraith ships, his back turned to her and she would always be left outside. Her heart hammered inside her chest and she could no longer hear his words as he gestured again to make a point. All she could focus on was the fact that he had almost gone away again. And she had so much to say, to show him.

Years of pent up emotion built up behind frustrated dams of hope and reality were straining. Then they broke.

She reached for him, her hands on his cheeks and she pulled his mouth towards hers, pressing their lips forcefully together. His body tensed against her, his neck tense under her touch as she held him to her.

"Teyla, do you have…" Evan's voice broke through her and she jumped back from John, abruptly embarrassed and shocked at her rash action.

She turned to Evan who was standing in the tent's entranceway looking shocked himself. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt…"

"No, no," she spluttered. "You did not interrupt," she was lying a lot this evening.

Evan looked from her to John and back again and she couldn't help but look round at John quickly. He was still standing in the same position he had been when she had kissed him, and to say that he looked shocked would have been an understatement. She looked quickly back at Evan.

"I'm sorry what were you asking for?"

Evan opened his mouth, clearly trying to decide whether he should leave. Suddenly she wanted him to stay and create an excuse for her to distract herself from the heat powering through her. She took a few steps towards him, moving away from John slightly.

Evan saw this as the invitation she had hoped he would. "I was just wondering if you still had my tags."

"Oh, yes of course," she replied as levelly as she could manage. She walked across the tent towards her jacket and dug through a couple of pockets until she remembered precisely which one she had put it in. She pulled it free by its chain. Evan stepped further into the tent as she handed it over to him. "I am sorry, I had meant to return them to you earlier," she said as he took the cool chain with its two tags.

"I knew they'd be safe with you. Thanks for looking after them," Evan replied and she watched his eyes drop briefly down her front before his gaze quickly returned to hers. She remembered that she was still wearing John's tags and that Evan had noticed. She smiled politely at him.

"Teyla?" Halling's voice called in from behind Evan and they both turned to see Halling lean into the tent. "There you are, Teyla, we were wondering where you had gotten to. Little Torren has been asking for you."

She felt surrounded now by men with questions in their eyes, and she still felt warm with surprise at her spontaneous action with John. So she was pleased to have something to focus on and something as clear as her son needing her. "He was fast asleep when I left him," she replied as she reached for her jacket once more.

"No doubt Zahm's singing woke him," Halling replied.

She smiled and turned quickly to the men filling her tent. "If you will all excuse me." Her eyes met John's last and she still saw the surprise there still, and also the knowledge that she was running away. She looked away before he protested or she faltered. Her son needed her.

She left her tent, silently cursing herself as she pulled on her jacket. John had not kissed her back, though clearly she had shocked him and the kiss had only lasted a split second before Evan had interrupted them.

She was shocked at herself. She rarely threw herself into any situation in which she had not already thoroughly thought it through. She preferred to open discussions with people, not throw herself in with such force. Well, she had this time and it was hardly like she hadn't thought about this type of situation with him before now.

But what if she had now ruined their friendship? With one hasty action she may have destroyed her closest friendship and made John uncomfortable. She hoped that he would not react that way, for she would hate for him to try to put distance between them.

She quickened her step, the baby sitter's tent in sight. It did not matter now of course, for the step had been taken and she had to face the consequences. She could not take back what had happened, though she and John had chosen not to talk about a past kiss before, this was different. There were no longer any excuses of a retrovirus. The truth was out and she had only to wait to see what the fallout would be. She just prayed it wasn't going to be too painful.

--------  
TBC


	10. Curiosity

Thank you everyone for all your continuing reviews and comments. To those I can't reply to personally through , thank you. Every review is very welcome.

Two Princes

Chapter 10 - Curiosity

------

Lorne

The three of them had exited Teyla's tent just after she left, but as Halling turned immediately back towards the celebration, Lorne waited outside Teyla's tent for John to join him. John wandered out of the tent, his attention clearly turned inward and as he neared Lorne couldn't help but say something.

"I'm really sorry," he said quietly to John, but John shook his head and waved it away.

"Don't worry about it."

Lorne nodded taking the words at face value, but looking at John out the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but regret what he had done. Walking together they rounded the tents and the party came into view. Lorne looked at John again and the man smiled at him, trying to appear casual no doubt, but Lorne saw that deep thoughtful look was still there in the guy's eyes.

"You want some ruus wine?" Lorne offered, heading towards the large bowl nearby. He could certainly use something to drink.

"No, I'm good," John replied.

Lorne poured out the dark wine into a cup for himself and turned back to John. "You sure?"

"After that Sweet Grain treatment I think I'll stay away from the stuff for a while," John replied. He looked away from Lorne to the crowd of Athosians all sitting and standing around eating and drinking. "Looks like we're popular here tonight then."

John had certainly seemed popular with Teyla, or at least that was what Lorne guessed from the split second he had seen of his two friends, lips locked together. But, Lorne wasn't so sure he had been the most surprised out of the three.

"We sure are," was all Lorne said in reply though. John wouldn't want to talk about it and it was none of Lorne's business anyway. "We should go mingle," Lorne suggested.

The next hour or so was spent talking with the rest of the camp. It never failed to impress Lorne how much Athosians could drink of their ruus wine, though perhaps it was explained by the frequency of which they celebrated things. Not that Lorne was complaining.

As he re-filled his cup with only a splash more of ruus wine, Lorne spied Fera across the room. She gave him a large wink before returning to her conversation. Only then did Lorne notice that Teyla had reappeared, Torren apparently asleep once again. She had sat down in the furthest corner within a large group of her people. Halling was recounting a story of some kind if the hand gestures were anything to go by. Lorne turned as he sipped from his cup and saw that John had also noticed she had returned, as he was glancing in her direction every now and then. Teyla for her part appeared to be engrossed in Halling's story – perhaps a little too much.

Fera's shoulder and hip bumped against his, the warmth of her body settling against his side. "What is so interesting?" She asked conspiratorially.

Lorne hadn't realised how obvious he had been. He turned his head towards to Fera, but kept his eyes across the room. "I accidently interrupted something between John and Teyla earlier," he told her in a hushed voice.

"Ooo, really?" Fera asked instantly intrigued. "What kind of something?"

"The kissing 'kind'," Lorne replied.

"No!" Fera said with enjoyment.

"It looked like it was a surprise for everyone though," he told her as he watched John move around the tent a little, as he tried not to stare at Teyla.

"Well it would surprise a couple to be walked in on," Fera replied.

"No, I mean I think the kissing was a surprise," he whispered back, trying not to enjoy this so much.

"Really?" She leaned a little closer, watching John along with Lorne. "He doesn't look surprised any more," she said with an amused hushed tone.

"I think this is all about to hit the fan," Lorne muttered.

"It has been heading that way for some time, my love," Fera replied with a laugh.

He had to nod at that, but he wasn't entirely sure how this was going to play out. His gaze travelled to where Kanaan was sitting near Teyla listening to Halling, and Lorne had to wonder.

----

John

The party had ended a short time ago and, in typical fashion with the Athosians, once it was over it was over. There were no drunken people still stumbling about and no one sleeping the night away in the open air. But, then John supposed that it wasn't like they needed to get a taxi back to their beds.

The camp was pretty much silent outside, as everyone was back in their tents and probably all asleep by now. He hadn't been back home that long, having helped tidy up after the party, and now he sat dressed ready for bed, but he was barely aware of how he had gotten changed, because his mind had been turning all evening.

Despite having been aware where Teyla had been sitting most of the time at the party, she had still somehow managed to give John the slip when she had left. One moment he was helping someone move the tables back into their normal places, the party goers all filing out of the large tent to head to their beds, and Teyla had still been across the tent from him. Then he had put the table down and looked round and she had gone already. Having already agreed to help tidy up, possibly because most of the other men were a little on the merry side, he had stayed helping out. Now, back in his tent he was ready for bed and paused.

It had come out of nowhere that kiss and it had taken him completely by surprise. And he had been confused as to where it had come from. He had tried to remember exactly what they had been arguing about – having a chain of command and somehow that had led her to kiss him. And it had been only a fraction of a second before Lorne had interrupted them. Teyla had looked so embarrassed and thrown off centre. Normally that would have surprised him, but he had been too shocked to do anything but watch her walk away to hand Lorne his tags. Then Halling had turned up and she had left. It wasn't like Teyla to run away from anything, but he understood since he had felt the need to run away as well. He had quite happily headed back to the party with Lorne, thinking it best to have a little space and time to think through what the hell had just happened.

He sat down on the edge of his bed and sighed. Part of him was highly suspicious of what had happened – fearing that it had been some aberrant act on her part. Maybe she was getting sick or something. Or maybe she hadn't really meant it, but then try as he might he couldn't quite see how talking about chains of command and battle situations would lead a woman to become passionate. And it had been an abrupt passionate action. That thought shimmered some heat through his body.

Yet, hadn't he been thinking about kissing her lately anyway? So she had beaten him to it – so what? Maybe it had simply made clear that she really was attracted to him as more than a friend. But, there was danger down that path. He fucked up relationships and Teyla meant a hell of a lot to him. Surely it would be better for them to stay good friends and stay close. But, hadn't that been his thinking before Kanaan had arrived on the scene? He remembered the depressive jealousy he had experienced after she had told him she was pregnant. Of course he had focused most of that emotional reaction into the fact that she had lied to them and concealed her pregnancy thereby putting both her and the unborn Torren at risk. But, there had been the pain under that. He had realised that he had missed something potentially special with her. Now Kanaan was out of the picture and if anything, he and Teyla were closer than ever. There were no pesky worries about being members of the same team or what the rest of the city would say. Nor would he have to worry about one day being parted from her, as this was his home now as well.

He sighed again at his thoughts. He really needed to talk to her, but it wasn't like he was good at that kind of thing. His lips tingled with the memory of her kiss, as short as it had been. He had his answer at least now as to whether she really had been flirting with him over the years, especially when they had teased each other. But, that did not answer the question as to whether she had really meant that kiss or whether she now regretted it. She certainly hadn't made eye contact with him all evening.

Well, he wasn't going to get any answers by sitting here. Normally he would try to avoid anything this dramatic in his life, naturally being inclined towards the 'hold back and wait and see' tactics when it came to emotions. But the decision about the future of his and Teyla's friendship needed to be made, even if it was to admit that things would be best to be kept simply friendly. Sure it would be weird for a while, but things would get back to normal again. Yeah, until some new Kanaan made a move on her.

He pushed his feet into a pair of boots and pulled on a coat over his bed clothes. He headed out of his tent to go find out some answers, after all he wasn't going to be able to sleep anyway, so he might as well go talk to her now.

He trod quietly along the worn trail between mostly darkened tents on both sides of him, until hers came into view. The faintest touch of candlelight flickered around the edges of the closed entrance flap. Probably only one candle was still alight inside, so either as she was still awake or had fallen asleep without extinguishing it.

"Teyla?" He called softly to her, lifting his voice just enough to carry through the flap.

There was no response for a moment which meant she was asleep or wanted to make him think she was.

"Yes, John, come in," her voice called back. He felt relieved that she had decided to talk to him and invite him in, yet there also was no turning back now.

He reached in and unhooked the main closing tie on the inside of the flap to keep it closed against the night and any bad weather. He lifted the fabric doorway to move into her tent and saw that he had been correct that only one lone candle still burned. It was set beside her bed, in which she sat, her back leant back against pillows, the sheets and warm blankets over her. He noticed she had a book in her hands, possibly from Earth he noted, as she lowered it to her raised knees under the blankets.

"Hey," he greeted her as he stepped fully into the tent.

She smiled back and he could see already that she was making an effort to control her expression.

"Wasn't sure if you'd still be up," he said, trying desperately to break the strange new tension in the air between them. He realised he was still holding onto the tent flap and let it drop and took a moment to secure it closed again. The warm air inside the tent surrounded him as he turned back to her.

"I was reading," she answered him as she lifted the book in her hand.

Grasping at the avenue of small talk he moved forward a little into her tent. "From Earth?" He had seen books on many worlds in this galaxy, but the Athosians tended to use scrolls or fabric books.

She smiled that controlled smile again. "Yes, I was given several as gifts by those on Atlantis over the years."

He moved further towards her across the living space of the tent, one side of which was Torren's play and sleeping area, which were both empty tonight. The large bed of hers was set at the back of the tent with her wardrobe and smaller pieces of furniture to one side. He picked up a small wooden stool as he neared the foot of her bed.

"I thought we could talk," he said hoping to cut through his desire to keep talking about anything other than why he was here. He set the stool down near the side of her bed about level with her legs.

He thought he saw her swallow before she nodded, turned and placed her book on her bedside table. She turned back, sitting up slightly more against the headboard of her bed. John sat down on the stool, his back against her wardrobe, facing the side of her bed. It helped in way that he was seated slightly lower than her. It was warmer further back in the tent, or perhaps it was just because he was uncomfortable. Perhaps it also had some source in that part of him that was filling with excitement that had been sparked by her kiss earlier. He tried to control it, because it wasn't that simple.

He pulled off his jacket to help him feel more relaxed, though it may also have been a bit of a delaying tactic. He set his booted feet solidly on the floor and leant his forearms on his thighs as he looked at her across the space between him and her bed. Perhaps he hadn't chosen the best location to talk about this subject matter.

Fortunately she began the conversation first.

"I need to apologise to you, John," she said politely. He wasn't sure he was pleased to hear that. Hell, she was taking back the kiss already! "For arguing about the mission," she clarified. Relieved more than he had expected he tried to control his expression even more.

"Well, you know you had a point," he admitted. He had been thinking about the argument as well. "This isn't Atlantis and we aren't part of the military any more." He wasn't surprised at the swell of sadness that the point provoked – he suspected he would always miss Atlantis.

"But, you are correct, there does need to be a clear chain of command in some situations," she pointed out.

He looked down at his hands hanging interlinked between his knees. "I hadn't realised that I had automatically put myself at the top of that chain. I guess I've gotten used to being there," he added with an ironic smile. He looked back up at her. "I suppose I think of it as the expertise I can bring to the camp. I'm not any good at farming or wood carving, but I can fight Wraith."

She smiled at him. "John, you make an excellent farmer. We do not all need to be experts at what we do. There is no superior here with whom you have to prove your part in order to stay here."

He hadn't realised he had been thinking that way until she said it. He had grown up in a home with a very clear patriarch, and though John had rebelled against that, he had then gone on to join the military – a place where you must always follow orders. His natural need to rebel had still won out on occasion and had almost gotten him thrown out, but it had also led him here. He had chosen a career in which he followed orders and strove to prove himself. Maybe he hadn't escaped his father as much as he had thought. It was a sobering thought.

"What is it?" Teyla asked.

He shook his head. "Nothing, its just I think I just saw a pattern to my life that I hadn't wanted to see before."

"Or perhaps you did not need to. You made an excellent military leader for your people. You protected Atlantis for five years and now you simply wish to protect my people as well."

"You've all taken Lorne and me in…"

She sat up a little in her bed, the blankets falling slightly to her waist, revealing the dark blue top she wore. "You know that we do not expect anything in return. You are both part of our camp now. There is no one judging you."

How had she turned this conversation into making him feel better about himself? Her supporting him, as she always did for everyone. It was typical of her to turn the focus onto another, but now he wondered if it was also something of a defence technique on her part. He didn't doubt she thought of others, she had become a leader in order to focus on helping others, but perhaps her own needs had fallen behind. He knew how that felt. Abruptly he knew he didn't want to just forget that kiss. Their life in Atlantis had gone and now there was no distractions of missions, superiors or career – there was only the need inside him that he had had for many years: that he was attracted to Teyla. There was something about her beyond her physical appearance that appealed to him. It had been a very real chemistry that had been there from the start between them. It had led them to trust each other from that first meeting and it had kept them protecting each other's backs all this time. But, perhaps it had also been swept aside in order to focus on what others needed, what the larger picture required in protecting a city and keeping things simple in the team.

"You do that a lot," he told her.

She looked confused. "Judge you?" She asked surprised.

"No, make people feel better about themselves and their situation," he replied.

She looked surprised again and he felt a tiny bit smug at throwing her off again. She wasn't the only one of them with insight into the other. "You were arguing with me earlier because you thought Lorne and I were taking too high a risk," he told her.

"And I pointed out that my presence in that ship may have helped you both," she countered, but there wasn't the same fire as there had been in the earlier argument. She was more level headed now. They had both had time to think through what they had said to each other.

He regarded her for a moment. "You're right; I should have taken you with me."

She lifted a pleased eyebrow. "And I should not have let you leave me behind."

He smiled at that. "But, of course that would have left Halling and the others without someone militarily trained guiding them." He had known that at the time and, though it was a valid point, he could also acknowledge to himself that it had been a welcome excuse to trap her into staying away from the ship. "I didn't want you, or them, hurt if I could avoid it," he explained.

She nodded. "If we are forced into a battle situation again you need to remember that I was a member of your team for five years and that I do not need protecting like a civilian."

He looked away from her for a moment, looking across her bedside table. "I know that," he replied. "It's just that we don't have the back up we used to." The lit candle was set up on a high stand flickering above the bedside table. Piles of thick wax had slid down the sides of the large candle, turning into abstract shapes as the liquefied wax had cooled away from the heat of the flame.

"Then we need to make sure that we are not pulled into too many battle situations," Teyla said.

"We can try," he replied as he turned back to her, watching the candlelight glow over her skin.

"And if we do get pulled into one, then I will always listen to your experience," she added. "That you are the height of the chain in those circumstances."

He wasn't really fooled by that and narrowed his eyes at her. "Unless you disagree with me."

She tried to look innocent in response, but it slipped into a soft smile. "Yes."

He let out a short breath almost a laugh as he shook his head, looking away towards the other end of her tent, where the candle light could not reach. There was no military structure here and therefore no real way for him to press his authority over her to keep her safe. But, then she had grown up in this dangerous galaxy without his protection for many years and he knew that she felt the need to protect others as he did. But, he knew that his desire to protect her was slightly more powerful than it was for the safety of others. He looked back at her.

"How about next time we agree to work together?" he suggested. It was a compromise that he could and would have to live with.

She smiled widely at him and nodded, and he got the impression that he had really pleased her. "Very well," she agreed.

He nodded and extended his hand towards her. She smiled again and reached across the space between them to shake his hand. They shook hands on the agreement and he let her hand go slowly, his fingers grazing over hers as her hand was pulled back. It was a fraction of a second, but he thought he saw her reaction to it, though she hid it behind her smile.

"But, I'm gonna need to know," he told her. "If you're going to try to win every argument the way you did today." He kept his tone light, rather proud of himself for having found a way to slip gracefully into this part of the discussion. He saw the red spread over her cheeks and she cleared her throat.

"I apologise for my rash action earlier," she replied.

He fixed his eyes on her as she looked away and then met his gaze again.

"For the kiss or the rash part?" He asked, aware that oddly he was enjoying himself.

He saw her frown down at the smile on his lips and saw that she knew he was taking some enjoyment in this. But, the question was still a serious one and she took a breath to answer him.

------

Teyla

He had surprised her from the moment he had appeared in her tent tonight. Not only had he sought her out to have this discussion, but he had sat down near her ready to talk and willing to compromise on their earlier argument. The faint light of her reading candle danced over one side of his features, the other side of his face sharpened by shadows, until he turned slightly towards her and the light would glow across his entire face again. He looked somehow even more attractive in this light, sitting so close and she wondered if it was some form of self torture for her to feel this way.

But, he had been nothing except honest and open as they had talked about their argument. It was so unlike him, though she conceded that perhaps they were into new territory with each other now. She had no idea how he behaved around a woman he had shared a kiss with - that the hidden softer more open side of him, which she had seen glances of, may be more apparent.

She also saw the teasing quality to his manner, which was very much him. He was always one to use humour as a shield.

"For the kiss or for the rash part?" He had asked, surprising her yet again.

She saw the smile was still there on his lips, but looking into his eyes she saw only honest curiosity there. She wasn't sure if he was trying to make light of the kiss to lessen the fact that she had acted the way she had. Or was he flirting with her?

Unsure she focused on what she wished to say. She cleared her throat, looking away from him as she tried to gather her thoughts, so that she would be honest with him, but not share more than they were ready to handle.

"I am sorry if I embarrassed you," she began hoping that as she talked she would say the right thing.

"You didn't embarrass me," he interrupted. She looked up at him, thrown a little, but pleased to hear his immediate response. Perhaps not all was lost, for even if friendship was to be their future, then at least he might not distance himself as she feared.

"You caught me a little off guard though," he added, again with that light tone that she appreciated from him. "There I was trying to argue my point on battle command and…"

She looked down feeling deeply embarrassed, but warmed by his humour and the situation. "It was not well timed," she admitted.

"It did take me by surprise," he repeated.

She smiled at him, trying to focus past her hot cheeks to the kind look in his eyes. He would not hold anything against her it seemed. "You did appear rather shocked," she teased him back.

He pulled a face to show how truly shocked he had been. "Then I thought maybe it was your way of getting me to shut up." She laughed lightly at that suggestion. "Tell me, honestly," he went on, his tone still teasing. "Have you been shutting up McKay all these years with that tactic?"

She laughed properly this time and shook her head at him as she couldn't help but pull a face of her own. "No. I adore Rodney, but not that much."

He nodded. "Ronon?" She shook her head again. "Woolsey?" He asked with pretend alarm.

"No, no one else," she admitted as she laughed at his joke.

"Okay," he said as he nodded. Silence filled the next moment, the humour dying away a little, but it had broken much of the tension between them.

He leant forward again on his stool, his forearms once again on his thighs, his manner certainly more serious, though the kindness of him was still somehow apparent to her.

"Our friendship is important to me, Teyla," he said softly. Though they were kind words, she feared where they were headed.

"I am sorry if I have jeopardised that today," she replied into the pause in his words.

He looked up at her. "You're the closest female friend I've ever had," he said carefully. "Certainly my closest friend in this galaxy," he added with a touch of forced humour. The forced smiled slipped as he looked down again.

"And you are mine," she told him quietly. That he would confess this to her was a massive event in itself and she tried to feel honoured and satisfied with that. He was right that they had a strong friendship and she wished to keep it as he did, though not quite as much as him it seemed.

"Are things really over between you and Kanaan?" He asked then. His voice had been pitched at the same soft confessional tone as before, though now there was the touch of something else in his voice.

She had not expected that question and suddenly the feel of this conversation shifted. His expression was very controlled, though she detected a determined touch around his eyes that told her that his question was important to him. Excitement began to bubble inside, but she kept her focus on her answer.

"Yes," she replied simply.

His eyes searched hers for a moment with more directness than normal for him. "Really?" He asked.

She decided that she needed to explain a few things to him, but she felt she still needed to be very careful. She looked away from him, to the darkened areas of her tent beyond the reach of the candlelight. She took a breath, measuring how she should explain. She decided to be very honest. She looked back to him and saw that he had tilted his head so as to keep his eyes on her face.

"Kanaan and I were good friends as children, but there had never been anything more than that, until the time I returned to live with my people when that small group of Ancestors returned to Atlantis." He nodded in a way that suggested to her that he had guessed that had been when things had begun between her and Kanaan. She looked away from him to her tent again. "It was difficult for me to live back among them, for I missed Atlantis." She shared a smile with him then, knowing he truly understood those emotions. "I believed that I would remain on New Athos from then onwards and that Atlantis was lost to me." She had not realised how similar her life was now as to how it had been then, though this time John was with her.

"Torren, as much as I loved his arrival in my life, he was not planned," she explained to John. "I do not believe that I had ever seen my future to include Kanaan for the long term."

She looked round to John and watched him watching her.

"You kept him a secret from us for a long time," John said quietly.

"Torren?" She asked confused.

"Kanaan. You never told any of us that you were seeing him," John pointed out. She thought she detected some bitter emotions under his controlled voice.

She looked down at the blankets over her lap. "Kanaan and I had an enjoyable relationship, but he was not all that I wished. Yet other choices were not available to me either." She had the courage to look up at John as she made that point, hoping he would understand how long her attraction to him had existed.

He looked surprised for a moment, though he was trying to hide it better this time. She maintained their eye contact this time, watching him blink and look aside, only to return to her eyes, a thoughtful look crossing his face.

"Did Kanaan tell you what we argued about?" He asked, surprising her with the turn of the conversation, but she was interested in this. Kanaan had been rather vague on the details of his disagreement with John and no one else in the camp had appeared to recall precisely what words had been exchanged between the two men. Another spark of excitement went through her. She had suspected, knowing it may not be real, that the two men had argued over her in some manner.

"He said that you would not let him forget that he had been wrong about how long I survived out in that hillside. He said that you hold that against him and judge him harshly over it."

"I do," John replied with feeling. "He should have been out there looking for you, Teyla. They all should have been, but especially him."

"He was right then," she replied, trying to lighten the mood a little since a dark mood had settled over John.

"We don't leave anyone behind, Teyla. No one should."

She turned a little towards him, shifting her body under the blankets to face him more directly. He needed to understand that it was not her people's fault. Yet, John had been right about the outcome.

"I agree, of course I do, but all their experience told them that it was hopeless, John. You were correct earlier when you said that my people do not have the experience that we do following our time in Atlantis. My people have lost so many of our number, it is almost to be expected. Kanaan thought he was right and you should try to understand that."

John did not look happy about that. "He was wrong and he almost made us all lose you."

She gave him a smile. "I know, and you know how grateful I am for what you did for me. That time and the many times before."

John looked a little embarrassed. "We've all saved each others' butts plenty of times."

"Exactly, and we do not hold the loss of some people on those who had been unable to save them. Kanaan knew that you judged him and he felt bad because you were right."

John was silent for a long moment. "That wasn't all the argument was about." She lifted an eyebrow as John looked up at her with a cautious expression. "He said that I was trying to get you for myself."

She was astonished to hear that. She would not have thought Kanaan to have said that out loud, though she had thought that he may have been jealous to that extent. John studied her face, no doubt her surprise clear in her expression.

"I did not know he had accused you of that," she said.

John pursed his lips a little. "He was right though," he said quietly.

A wave of heat followed the wave of surprise through her, though she tried to concentrate on him and not on the way her breathing had increased. "You never tried to break my relationship with Kanaan," she pointed out. She was pretty sure that John would not do such a thing, but clearly Kanaan had thought otherwise.

"But I wanted to," he confessed.

She drew in a breath, her lips abruptly warm. She could feel her heart racing now, and she tried to keep it all from showing. She met John's eyes and studied him for his honesty and saw it there.

"You never said anything to me," she whispered.

A small smile moved one corner of his lips. "You never said anything to me." He looked down then, back to his hands. "Besides I didn't want to ruin things. In the team and you know…our friendship." He gestured between them and looked up to her. "And I'm not all that good with the…"

"Feelings," she supplied for him as he paused, repeating the moment from a past conversation they had shared together. It had felt an important conversation back then and now it seemed even more so.

He nodded, matching her smile. A nice warm spread of feelings filled her chest as she watched him.

"You seem to be doing well with them right now," she pointed out.

He gave one of his little shrugs and tilted his head, all to deflect the compliment, and then he looked back at her seriously. "A lot has happened over the last couple of years."

She nodded her agreement. The last two to three years had seen much change and her own life had been dramatically altered. And it looked set to change again.

"So, I suppose," he began as he rose slightly from his stool, pulling it forward, until it was close to the side of her bed and he sat down on it again, looking up at her. "We need to decide what to do now."

Anticipation warred with caution inside her.

"If we should risk this, or keep our friendship as it is," he added. She nodded her agreement - yes that was the decision. She knew which she would prefer.

"Our friendship has already been altered by this conversation," she said.

"That's true," he admitted as he leant one forearm along the edge of her bed, bringing him within touching distance of her. The air felt warm and close around her, and she felt as if she were being pulled in towards him by some unseen force. Perhaps the desire and curiosity that were years old.

Before she had acted hastily to kiss him, now the situation was different and she could see the intent in his eyes.

She shifted herself closer to the edge of the bed and reached towards him with one hand. His cheek was warm in her palm and she could feel his late evening stubble across his jaw. He looked up at her with dark eyes, the candlelight glowing over his face as his gaze lowered to her lips. She leant in towards him as he lifted his chin, and their lips pressed gently together.

His lips were warm and full against hers as she pressed hers to his. The moment was upon them and finally she would know if there was truly the chemistry she had sensed. That there was more to be felt and expressed between them.

He pressed further against her mouth before he pulled back and their lips parted with a soft release. She opened her eyes slightly to see the closeness of his face, the lines of his features and his hooded eyes looking up at her. Then he was moving back towards her and she drifted her eyes closed again. This time she opened her mouth slightly to meet this kiss, as he did, and she felt his lips around her lower lip. His taste filled her senses though the kiss was still so light. She cupped his cheek tighter, as she drew in a breath through her nose. His mouth slid across hers, and she lost herself in the sensation, returning the touch of lips to lips with relaxed sensitised motions. Her lips felt more alive than ever before, the texture of his lips firing off all her senses.

She felt his hand against her arm, sliding up to her shoulder and he pulled her closer to him. She leant further forward and his tongue slid across her lower lip. She heard herself whimper slightly, but there was no time to feel embarrassed about the sound because he mouthed her lips a little more and then his tongue was between them and she opened her mouth further for him. His hand slid around her neck, into her hair and she entwined her tongue around his as it entered her mouth. She felt him inhale against her at the touch, his fingers tightening in her hair.

She slid her own hands around his neck, one sliding up into his short hair whilst the other she ran back up to his cheek, feeling the movement of his jaw as they kissed. She stroked through his hair, holding him to her as she pressed into his mouth in return. Something indefinable about his taste and scent made her body feel even warmer, and as he sucked gently on her tongue she moaned against him.

She felt him begin to pull back and it teased her gently back from the blissful place his kiss had taken her. The kiss began to lighten, lips once again caressing against each other's until their lips finally partly, ever so slowly.

She sighed as she licked her lower lip into her mouth, her eyes opening to the sight of him once again. His lips were very full and damp, and she had to pull her eyes from them or risk drifting back to his mouth. He moved back a little and his face came more into focus and she blinked her eyes rapidly to bring herself out of her little trance.

His eyes were still heavily hooded and she saw them directed at her lips which made them instantly tingle. She swallowed as she sat back a little from him and realised how much she had been leaning into him, almost to the point of falling from the bed if he decided to move. John moved with her though as she sat back, keeping them closer than if they had both just sat back. He cleared his throat as she watched him blinking his eyes, and his dazed look clearing into focus once more.

"So," he said. His voice was deep and luxurious. "That's a 'no' to staying just friends, right?"

She smiled with him. She ran her hand down over his shoulder, feeling the strong lines of his chest and upper body. He seemed so much more sexual than before. Though she had noticed that about him previously, now that she was 'allowed' to admit and focus on those facts they were unavoidable. She nodded – there was no way to turn back now.

---------

Kanaan

It was late as Kanaan inhaled the fresh night air. He was leaving the tree line following the need to relieve himself. He enjoyed venturing out into the chill night air some nights, and since Torren slept deeply he had left for a few minutes. Now as he headed back towards his tent he heard a slight movement behind him. It was not unusual to hear people moving around at night, but he still turned to see who it was.

In the distance he saw Sheppard exit Teyla's tent and Kanaan froze, moving only to step back into the shadow of a tent. He stood still and watched Sheppard pull on a coat over what were clearly night clothes, and then the man was walking away in the direction of his own tent.

Anger and righteousness boiled up inside Kanaan's throat. He had known that Sheppard had been after Teyla! He had been right! And she had fallen for the Earth man's scheming. Kanaan wondered how long it had taken Sheppard to step into Kanaan's place. Had it been merely days? Hours?!

As Sheppard disappeared down the length of the tents, Kanaan stepped out into the moonlight again. Kanaan wished that he had followed through in that disagreement and had struck Sheppard, for at least that would make this pain a little easier to bear. Maybe it still would.

---------  
TBC


	11. The Hunt

**PLEASE NOTE** – from the next chapter onwards this fic will be 'upgraded' to an M rating. Which means that future updates will only show up in the updated fics list on this site if you have selected the list to include M rated fics.

Two Princes

Chapter 11 – The Hunt

-------

Teyla

"Did you not sleep well, Teyla?" Meela asked.

Trying to suppress her yawning Teyla looked round to the older woman, hoping that her expression was as well controlled as she hoped. She smiled at the other baby sitter. Around them the camp's children were chattering away with each other inside the largest of the communal tents. Teyla sat on the floor inside the large partitioned off area, Torren and two other children sitting around her knees as they played with the toys, some not as tolerant as others about their own toys being enjoyed by others.

"I am sorry," Teyla replied with a smile. "After retiring late to bed after the celebration I then found it difficult to fall asleep." It was not a lie, for she had been late to bed, but then John had arrived in her tent to discuss what had happened earlier that evening. The conversation had then led to her sharing her first proper kiss with him. He had remained seated beside her bed for some time after that as they made each other laugh recounting stories from Atlantis. He had left her tent eventually, after they had shared another kiss, and she had been left to fall asleep amidst the silence of her tent. She had lain awake for a long time afterwards thinking about him, and reliving the thrilling moments of their discussion and of his kiss. Consequently this morning she was rather tired, but her heart was full.

Meela nodded, appearing not to have seen anything amiss in Teyla's explanation. "I imagine you had much to keep you awake after battling the Wraith as you all did yesterday."

Teyla smiled at Meela. "There was not really much 'battling'," Teyla corrected with a humorous smile. Near her knee Torren let out a grumpy complaint. Teyla rested one hand against her son's back to help calm him.

"I imagine caring for all of these today will only tire you further," Meela went on, making it clear with a look that she did not believe Teyla's interpretation about facing the Wraith as not being a battle, and so had turned the conversation onwards. Teyla smiled at the woman.

"I had to collect Torren early this morning anyway as Kanaan is going out as part of the hunting party today," Teyla explained. Another angry noise from Torren drew her attention down to him again.

"Torren, let Asthra play with the bricks as well," she instructed him gently. Torren grumbled again, pulling one of the bricks tight into his stomach away from Asthra's reach. Teyla reached down and gently took the brick from Torren's hands. "It is important to share, Torren. After all Asthra is sharing her toys with you."

She handed Asthra the brick, and then reached for another identical one to give to Torren. He took it, but then tossed it aside and watched Asthra with his former brick. Asthra was only slightly younger than him, and she was a beautiful little girl who did nothing but smile. Teyla watched as Asthra handed the brick back to Torren, who took it and then tried to give it back to her again. Teyla smiled with Meela over the baby politics playing out.

The older children were seated at a table across from Teyla, all bent over their drawings, and the youngest babies were all napping in their little cots. All appeared peaceful at present, but it was still very early. Teyla tried to hide another large yawn that threatened to break her jaw with its intensity. Meela chuckled at her.

"Perhaps I will get myself some red root tea to wake myself up," Teyla suggested as she rose to her feet. "I will be as quick as I can," she said to Meela.

"Take your time, Teyla," Meela replied. "All is well here."

Teyla walked across the play area and stepped over the small dividing pen wall into the main part of the tent. She looked back to Torren, to see that he was too busy trying to pass more bricks to Asthra to notice that Teyla had left. Smiling, Teyla headed out into the early morning light. It was a lovely day today and everyone was rushing to get as much work done in the fields and across the camp. Teyla moved out through the busy camp, pretending to herself that she wasn't looking for one particular person.

She had yet to see John this morning as she had been up very early out of her tent, but she had hoped to have seen him moving around the camp. She had no idea what work he was planned to do today, and secretly she hoped that he would sit in with her to babysit the children.

Following the path to her tent, she continued to not look for John.

"Teyla," his voice called from behind her and she turned with a smile already warming her face.

He was hurrying towards her, and she saw the small secret little smile on his face as she knew was on hers. "John," she greeted him as he approached.

She realised as he reached her side that he was dressed in his darkest clothes and had his sidearm and knife attached to his Atlantis belt. He was dressed for hunting.

"Zahm's not well, so I'm heading out to help in the hunting," he explained having seen her questioning look. She tried not to feel too disappointed that he would not be around today. The hunting parties could take all day which meant that he might not be back till very late tonight.

"What is wrong with Zahm?" She asked as they fell into step with each other as he accompanied her towards her tent.

"He had a little too much ruus wine last night," John explained with amusement. She smiled up at him, aware of the subtle new tension between them.

"What you doing today?" he asked as he walked slightly closer to her along the path.

"I am watching the children with Meela for the day," she replied.

"Get the whole day with Torren then," John said as they turned the curving path between the tents.

"Yes," she replied with a happy smile. "Though he seems a little testy this morning, I do not think he must have slept that well."

They reached her tent and she pushed aside the entrance flap and entered the dark empty space. John followed her in and she heard the flap fall back down as she moved across the tent towards her water kettle. "I need some tea myself to keep awake this morning," she explained as she reached down to check there was water in the kettle and then set about lighting the small fire beneath it.

"Late night?" He asked from behind her, his tone innocent.

She smiled over her shoulder towards him. He was looking down at her table on which was spread some new cloth on which she had been designing a pattern for some new summer clothes for Torren. He looked over his shoulder at her and they shared a smile.

She turned towards her selection of dried teas she kept stored on a nearby shelf. She selected the red root and pulled the lid off the clay storage pot and sniffed at the tea. The scent was enlivening even before the root was made into a tea. She took another breath which turned into a yawn. She turned and dropped several pieces of the root into a cup.

"Sorry if I kept you up last night," he said as he moved across the tent to stand near her.

She looked up at him to see the seriousness in his expression, but there was still amusement. "I did not mind," she replied with an honest smile of her own.

Memories of their kisses last night returned and she caught herself looking at his mouth as she recalled how it had felt against hers. The new tension between them wavered in the air. The attraction between them was free finally, but there was the natural restraint in her, which she expected he also felt, as they began to explore this new change to their relationship. She looked back up to his eyes and was relieved to see a similar set of emotions echoed there. John was a naturally cautious and restrained man when it came to personal matters, it was one more thing they shared, but in the matters of the heart they had even less knowledge of each other.

She lifted the pot of red root. "Would you like some?"

He smiled slightly then, his lips shifting at one end of his mouth as his eyes dropped to the clay pot in her hand and then down to the kettle beside them as if he had only just noticed them. "No, thanks. I've gotta head out in a minute."

She nodded. "Remember to look where you are walking," she reminded him.

He smiled widely at what was normally his line to her. But, now the reminder of her rescue brought forth different memories than before. Or rather their focus had changed. He had searched for her, unwilling to give up and surrender her to the elements. He had warmed her body with his own.

"So, ah, you spending the whole day with the kids?" He asked.

She set down the clay pot of tea with a smile. "Yes, and the tea should keep me awake," she said hopefully.

He glanced down at the steam drifting up from the kettle as the water inside gradually heated. "All those kids to look after for the day not stimulating enough for you?"

She looked at the root tea. "Perhaps you are right. Something soothing may be in order later. Are you sure you do not want to take some tea with you?" She asked.

"No, I'll be fine. Plenty to think about to keep me awake."

She met his eyes with a questioning look and saw the sparkling was back in his gaze. "Really?" She asked.

He nodded and reached for her, his hands landing on both sides of her waist and pulling her gently towards him. She saw the cautious look to his eyes, as if he wasn't entirely certain that she would want to embrace him. She was aware of a sense of her own relief, as well as the new excitement. She stepped towards him, and rose up slightly onto her toes to meet his approaching mouth.

Their lips pressed together gently with an air of a greeting, or perhaps to test once again that what had happened last night still existed this morning. Her body tingled instantly, her lips feeling full and sensitive against his. She rested herself against his chest slightly and his arms slid around her, two bars of warmth around her back.

"John? They're waiting for…" Lorne began as he leant into the tent, causing her and John to pull their lips apart and look round at him in surprise. Lorne pulled a face. "Oops, not again. Sorry," he offered.

Teyla couldn't help smiling at their friend and John shook his head beside her.

"It is alright, Evan," she offered their friend as she pulled back slightly from John, though his hands remained on her back and hers on his chest.

"Just, the hunting party's all ready and waiting," Lorne explained hurriedly, before he backed out of the entrance.

John turned to her. "I should get going," he said as he tilted his head towards to the exit. She nodded. "I'll try and drop in to see you and Torren tonight," he offered.

She rubbed her hands over his upper arms. "If you can, if not I will see you tomorrow."

"What you got planned for tomorrow?" He asked as they slid their hands from each other slowly.

"I am free in the morning," she told him.

"You feel like doing something?" She nodded at his invitation. "Where do Athosians go on dates?" He asked with curiosity.

"We could go for a walk. There is a nice grassland area about an hour's walk from the stream. We could take a picnic," she suggested.

"Sounds good; it's a date," he replied.

The sound of Lorne clearing his throat could be heard from outside and John rolled his eyes. "I'll see you tonight or tomorrow morning then," he offered as he leant in and kissed her lightly.

"I will look forward to it," she replied as he moved away from her, across her tent towards the exit. They shared another smile before he pushed aside the entrance flap and disappeared outside.

As the flap dropped back down behind him she heard Evan talking to him.

"I'm really sorry about doing that to you guys again," Evan said with worried amusement.

"Don't worry about it," she heard John reply as the two men began walking away from the tent. "But if you do it again I'm gonna have to kill you."

--------

John

John couldn't help but feel a little grumpy as he walked out of the living tents to join the hunting party. Upon seeing him they gathered up their hunting gear and together they all headed off towards the trees. As John followed along at the back of the group he saw ahead of him that Kanaan was part of the group, and that the man was looking back at him oddly. Great, not only was John now forced to spend the day in the depths of the silent forest with his own thoughts, but he had Kanaan around as well!

The tall green trees surrounded John and above him those golden little birds with their pretty voices sang out.

He had agreed to join the hunting party when they had asked him, but after having been in Teyla's tent this morning he really would have preferred spending today with her. Though originally one of the reasons why he had agreed to join the hunting party was to get away from the camp for the day. Last night he had had another one of those 'lost in the caves trying to find Teyla' dreams that had started after he had had the Sweet Grain treatment. He would have thought after last night's revelations about her feelings for him that the dream would go away, but instead it had been even more intense than ever.

She had fought against him in the dream again, trying to get out of the sleeping bag and into the cold that would kill her. He had tried to talk her into staying and then had tried holding her to him again to warm her. In the end she had shouted at him and he had let her crawl out from the warmth and into the tunnels and caves. He had tried to follow her and had ended up trailing her through the honeycombed mountain, never quite able to catch up with her. To make matters worse Nancy had then turned up, following after him, telling him how he had ruined their marriage and that he should leave Teyla alone to be Kanaan. He had rounded a bend in the tunnel and had found Teyla cuddled up with Kanaan in the sleeping bag.

As dreams went he felt it was a little obvious, but then the real uncomfortable nightmares usually were. He had woken feeling nervous and cautious about the new changes to his relationship with Teyla. They had a great friendship and he suspected he might just ruin a relationship with her and then he would have lost everything. What if it didn't work out? What if there was no real chemistry and what if they just weren't compatible 'that' way? It was a collection of all the usual dating worries, but intensified to the nth degree because it was Teyla, and he really didn't want to ruin what he had with her.

Usually he had dated women he had just met, or had known for only a short time. Usually he was pretty certain that they wanted him, and it had been all about the fun. Even his marriage to Nancy had been about having what he wanted at home and being able to head out on missions the rest of the time. She had been a loving woman and they had had great chemistry from day one. They had gotten engaged about five months after they had met and then married a few months later. It had been a whirlwind exciting time, which had turned far too quickly into something nasty, for both of them.

But, Teyla was different. It wasn't like he had just met her and could work his charm and pretend to be the best that he was with her. Women usually found out what you were really like months later, but Teyla knew him. Knew him _really_ well and he knew her well. In fact he was rather stuck in a confusing place of really wanting her and the opportunity to date her, against the other part of him that knew he was not good enough for her. She could do far better than him. It was the friend fighting the lover. Okay that was the first time he had used that word in relation to Teyla!

He had eaten his breakfast this morning worrying that he shouldn't have gone to her tent last night, and that he shouldn't have kissed her. Because once they had properly kissed – then he had been hooked. Not only had she felt and tasted wonderful, but he had burned for her in that kiss. Holding her had felt so right and he had known that he was in trouble. Could they turn back now? Maybe the chemistry last night had been because it had been their first 'real' kiss? Maybe it had been the candlelight and the fact that they had talked so candidly with each other. For some reason he had really talked to her last night – to save their friendship and to understand why she had kissed him. What chance did he have in that kind of situation? It had been as romantic as hell in her candlelit tent! All the reasons why they should try it together had made so much sense, and there had been no doubts. Then he had gone back to his tent alone, fallen asleep and dreamt of all that could go wrong. That he would frighten her off, that he wouldn't be enough for her, that she would go back to Kanaan despite what she had told him. That he would ruin them as he had ruined his marriage.

So he had agreed to the hunting party for a little distance, but he hadn't wanted to leave without seeing her, maybe get a feel for how she was feeling about him this morning. He had caught up with her near her tent and she had been dressed in one of her tailored tops over loose flowing skirts. She had turned towards him and smiled widely up at him and all the good reasons had come flooding back. His attraction to her had slammed back into place, now for the first time really given free rein. He had smiled at her smile, and the beautiful shape of her face, her wide smiling lips that had felt so good against his.

He had walked with her back to her tent and then inside he had wandered around her tent as she talked to him. Then she had mentioned last night and he had been drawn back in towards her. He was a little unsure about how to turn such a good friendship like he had with her into a relationship, but pulling her towards him for a kiss had been a good start. She had moved into his arms without hesitation and she had leant into his kiss. The sensation of her lips against his, her breasts pressed to his chest and the scent of her around him had made him decide to ignore his concerns. Then Lorne had arrived with the reminder that he had agreed to spend the entire day away from the camp. Stupid John. He could have spent the day enjoying her company and focusing away from his nightmare and his worries.

Now here he was waist deep in shrubbery, deep in the forest far from the camp. The rest of the hunting party were stretched out through the forest forming a long line through the trees, to enable them to watch the widest area of forest for any game. John adjusted his crouched position leant against a tree stump. He had been out here four hours by his watch.

John glanced to his left and could just about make out the shoulder of Tolim where he was concealed amongst some ferns in the distance. They were far enough away from each other to cover a wide space, but close enough to hear a call or see a hand signal. John turned and looked to his right. Lorne was out there, but John had to sit and study the vegetation in the far distance to pick out exactly where the Major was sitting. Lorne was good at melding in, but seemed particularly good today. Then through several waving stalks of a thick plant John saw a brown covered shoulder sat perfectly still. John sent a check-in hand gesture and a hand responded with a confirmation. Okay, Lorne was getting real good at being an Athosian hunter, which reminded John that he was out here for a reason.

He returned his attention back out to the large space of forest that was his to watch. The deer like game on this world tended to wander around in small groups. They were a strange green colour that melded a little too well into the forest backdrop, which was why this sit and wait form of hunting worked so well to catch them. It had been freaky though the first time he had seen one of the green creatures, because mammals should not be green in his opinion, he wasn't really sure why, but it was freaky.

Okay he needed to get his head in gear. The group needed a minimum amount of game for the camp and if they got it all quickly enough then they would head back to the camp early. So John decided to really concentrate because then maybe he could get back to Teyla this evening, and besides at least the hunting distracted him away from relationship issues.

He focused into the distance and let his gaze soften. Small movements of plants and tree branches drew his attention instantly in that state, but once he identified the source of the movement he went back to softened gazing. He would pick up anything out of place that way, after all humans had been hunters for a long time. One branch, in the far distance ahead of John, moved a little more than it had been before and he was instantly focused on it. A shadow shifted behind it and John held his breath, his entire body frozen and he watched the deer like thing step cautiously out from under the tree branch.

The creature stopped and sniffed the air before it moved forward. It was a good distance ahead of him and John would need to get a little closer to get it, so he kept his eyes on the deer and lowered himself further into the vegetation. The deer stood for a long time considering the area and then dropped its head and began grazing on a large fern. John lifted his hand and made a few gestures in Lorne's direction and then began crawling slowly through the ferns and shrubs. He kept his gaze on the deer, pausing every now and then to let some ferns stop swaying or when the deer looked round towards him. He was intently focused and he had no idea how much time passed as he stalked the creature as it wandered further away through the trees. It was a while before John became aware that he had moved considerably further forward than the former line. He looked back, trying to see if he could pick out either Tolim or Lorne, but they were far too back now to pick out of the vegetation and they would be unlikely to see any hand gesture anyway.

It didn't matter, he wouldn't need help against a deer, but he had the strange sensation that something wasn't quite right around him. He looked back, narrowing his eyes as he tried to identify what was wrong. He saw nothing out of place, so he returned his attention to the deer, which had begun to move to the right, moving into the area Lorne was watching. That would be helpful as the two of them could converge on the deer. John crept on, moving quicker when the deer leapt over some shrubs which masked the sound of his movement.

The deer paused, still and far too alert in a small clearing, its head turned towards John. John held still and watched the deer shy slightly as it reacted to something. John held his breath, not wanting to move in the least, then he heard movement behind him and saw the deer react. He turned where he was crouched and a shape stepped out from behind a tree. John stood up abruptly and moved out of the patch of light he had been in and the shadow took form as he turned towards it. Behind John he heard the deer leaping away through the forest as fast as its legs could carry it.

"I wish to speak with you, Sheppard," Kanaan announced angrily as he stood in a small open patch of forest, hunting spear in one hand.

John stood completely upright, his heart hammering still from the adrenaline hit. He glanced down at the spear in the guy's hand, and dropped his own hands lower towards his hips, close to his sidearm if he needed it. "Sure, what can I help you with?" He asked as casually as he could, despite the rather worrying development.

"I know about you and Teyla," Kanaan stated plainly.

John pretended to look confused. "What about us?"

"That you have worked your way into her bed already. I wonder how long it took you once you got me out of her tent." Okay the guy sounded pretty angry, and this was more than a little weird, and worrying, that Kanaan had decided to confront John out here.

"Hey, hang on," John protested though. "Your relationship with Teyla is over," he argued.

"Which I am sure you are very happy about. I wonder what you whispered into her ear to help her make that decision."

John took a breath and worked to contain his own sense of growing anger. "I never said a word to her about you before you broke up. She is fully capable of making her own choices," John pointed out, his right hand still hovering near his sidearm.

"And you took clear advantage of that," Kanaan replied.

"I didn't say anything to her about you, Kanaan," John repeated, trying to keep his voice calm, to defuse the growing aggression.

"I do not believe you," Kanaan replied with conviction.

John battled against his own growing sense of annoyance; at being stalked up on and accused by Kanaan.

"Look if you feel bad about how things ended between you and Teyla, that's your business, but don't go taking it out on me. I had nothing to do with it." He knew he really shouldn't get pulled into this, but his patience was feeling the strain.

Kanaan let out an aggressive breath that made it quite clear that he didn't agree. "Do you think I did not see how you look at her?" Kanaan stated.

"She's a beautiful woman. An intelligent, independent woman who decided she didn't want you anymore, Kanaan. I'm sorry about that, it's never easy, but you deal with it and move on," John tried to reason with him. John knew what it was like to be in Kanaan's position – okay maybe he didn't, as he didn't have a kid with a woman who had decided she didn't want him anymore. Now, John was thinking about it, he could see where some of Kanaan's anger was coming from, but that didn't make this right. And it certainly wouldn't stop John from defending himself. He was still a little stunned that Kanaan had showed up like this. It was a rather unstable thing to do in John's opinion, which only made the situation more potentially unpredictable.

Kanaan moved slightly closer and for the first time John noticed how wide the guy's shoulders were - he probably had some pretty impressive upper body strength. "You took full advantage though, did not you, Sheppard?"

John met Kanaan's gaze and decided that the man was angry, but there wasn't that mad glint there that suggested that Kanaan would be really dangerous. John was pretty sure Kanaan wasn't really out to hurt him. The man was angry and looking for a fight, probably had been stewing for one since the argument they had had back just before Teyla had broken up with him. John decided that walking away would be the best bet.

"You can think what you want," John told him and began to walk through the shrubs back towards the hunting line, passing Kanaan as he went. He hoped he hadn't misread Kanaan, and just in case he kept his hand near his leg holster.

"Did you wait a full day after she was in her own tent till you moved in on her?" Kanaan demanded as he began to follow John.

John kicked his way through a patch of ferns with more aggression than was necessary. "Don't pretend this is about me. This is about you feeling guilty about not saving her life," he pointed out over his shoulder.

"And you will not let us forget that, will you?" Kanaan argued. "No, instead you use it to your own ends."

John whirled round on Kanaan, anger of his own flaring. "You're the one who gave up on her. You left her out there in the cold alone!"

"I did all I could. I thought there was nothing to do. It was an exceptional situation that she had fallen into that unknown cave and that it was covered once again by the snow. You found her more from luck and than thing else!"

"I found her because I didn't stop looking, Kanaan. "Which is what you should have done and if you feel ashamed or guilty or whatever about that, then I think you should be."

Kanaan pushed forward, hovering on the edge of John's personal space. "There, that is what you think is it not? That no one is good enough for her as you are!"

"I never said that. I said that _you_ aren't good enough for her!" John exclaimed before he could stop himself.

"Who are you to judge me?" Kanaan demanded.

John was aware that things were getting clearly out of hand, but a deep fury was building inside him. It had a lot of old pain and resentment in it, as well as the latest in insults of Kanaan leaving Teyla to die in the cold.

"You are not of her people, or even of this galaxy, and you can never understand her. You came here and blinded her with your advanced technology and charm. You will use her as you used this galaxy and Atlantis, until you grow bored and move on."

"You don't know anything about me, Kanaan! Don't pretend that you understand how I feel about Teyla. I've been through more with her beside me than you can ever know."

"Because I do not go off to kill Wraith? Does that make me less than you?"

"I never said that," John responded. He turned away again, walking away from the fight, but Kanaan kept following him. John was beginning to wonder where the other hunters were, because surely he and Kanaan were making enough noise to attract some attention.

"You were happy to leave her behind when you had your home world to go to," Kanaan said from behind.

"She was with you then and I for one respect her decisions," John replied over his shoulder. Where the hell was Lorne?

"I told Major Lorne that he was needed further up the line," Kanaan told him, having worked out what John was looking for. John turned the other way to look in Tolim's direction, but he was a little turned around now and wasn't sure if he was close enough to Tolim's area.

"Now that you are trapped here with us in this galaxy, you are suddenly interested in her and I was in the way."

John turned back round to face him. "Get over it," spat at Kanaan and turned away again, trying to orientate himself to where the line had been.

Kanaan's hand landed on John's shoulder forcing him back round to face him. John batted away the man's arm as he spun back towards him.

"Is this what you want, Kanaan? You want to do the caveman thing and fight over her? Do you really think she'll change her mind and take you back because you sock me on the jaw?"

"This is not about Teyla anymore."

John could see the pain-filled anger in Kanaan's eyes. John actually felt a rush of understanding for the guy. John had been in a few situations where he had gone looking for a fight to make himself feel better. Maybe it was to boost the ego, maybe it was some male hormone thing, or maybe it was simply self destructive.

"You ruined everything," Kanaan spat at him, the spear had disappeared from his hand somewhere back in the shrubbery and John saw the balled up fist in its place.

"You want to hit me, Kanaan? Go on then!"

The fist flew towards John with a serious amount of speed behind it and John didn't quite get out the way in time, having been honestly shocked that Kanaan had taken up his offer. Kanaan's outer knuckle clipped John's jaw, but John was already striking up at Kanaan's middle. The man grunted and stepped back, but swung back in towards John. John danced away, though Kanaan moved quickly forward and lashed out again. Okay, so Kanaan had some fighting training after all.

John ducked and tackled Kanaan around the middle, shoving him down to the ground. Kanaan got a good grab of John's jacket on the way down and pulled John down with him. Grunting as he landed half on Kanaan, John lifted one elbow up in time to block Kanaan's hit to his head before he rolled away. Scrambling through shrubs that wanted to stick to his jacket and hands, John got upright again and saw Kanaan heading in to tackle him this time. John tried to side step the move and got a good kidney punch in before Kanaan pushed him down with his full body weight.

John was moving even before his back hit the ground, swinging himself round ready for when Kanaan fell forward, and he got a quick lock around one of Kanaan's arms. He pulled back, tightening the lock hold.

"You had enough yet?" John asked as he panted.

However, Kanaan knew that John wasn't about to break his arm and so ignored the lock, despite the pain it had to be giving him, and punched out at the side of John's head. The hit was good, and John's cheekbone took most of the impact. A sharp burst of pain spread down across one side of John's face and he released the lock to get some space between them. Getting up quickly he touched fingertips to his cheek and they came away bloodied.

"Great," John muttered.

Kanaan had gotten to his feet and swung at John again.

"Oh, come on," John complained as he weaved away from the punch. "You've got your cheap shot in."

Kanaan followed his punch with an elbow strike that John only just spotted in time, blocking it with his forearm. Kanaan tried to punch with the other fist, but John got a good grip on the guy's wrist. They stood locked for a few moments, John holding back both Kanaan's fist and elbow, grunting a little with the effort. God, Kanaan was stronger than he looked. John dug his military issue boot heels into the ground, bent his knees some more and held his ground.

"I hate you," Kanaan spat at him between their locked arms.

"If, I were a…shrink…"John got out around his straining body and clenched jaw. "I would say that…you hate…yourself more." Enough was enough and John broke the stalemate, by thrusting his forehead down at Kanaan's face. The impact broke Kanaan's hold, and possibly a bit of his nose.

The Athosian staggered back, blood pouring from his nostrils. Well away from John he leant forward and spat out a good mouthful of blood.

John coughed himself, his back and chest aching from the very intense work out he had just had at holding Kanaan at bay. "You okay?" He asked as he leant forward resting his hands on his thighs for a moment, and tried not to feel slightly guilty.

Kanaan kept his head down as he touched his nose tentatively with a shaky hand. He hissed out a breath and nodded his head, his face still directed down towards the shrubs. Silence stretched out through the trees as John watched the man cautiously as he spat out some more blood. "I should have kept looking for her," Kanaan muttered.

John stayed quiet for a moment, sensing that the fight was finally out of Kanaan. "We've all done things we regret," John told him quietly. "Things we aren't proud of."

Kanaan looked up, his nose was bloody, but from here it didn't look too broken. "Not, Colonel Sheppard: The Hero," he muttered sarcastically.

John saw the pain behind the sarcasm. "We all make mistakes, and sometimes…mistakes can cost lives." A very old pain slid into play for John, making itself at home in that part of him that knew every name of the people he'd lost over the years. Especially those lost in Afghanistan. "The important thing is to learn from them and never make them again."

Kanaan held his gaze for several long beats and then the Athosian blinked and looked down again as he held his fingers back to his nose. "If I could live that time again..."

John pulled out the last pocket pack of Earth tissues from a pocket in his jacket and moved towards Kanaan. He pulled one out and offered it to the man. "I know how you feel." Kanaan took the tissue and held it to his nose, muttering a bitter thank you. Bright red blood stained the white square.

John pulled a tissue out for himself and held it against his cheek. Silence lingered between them again as both blotted their wounds.

"If it had not been Teyla who had been lost – would you still have kept looking?" Kanaan asked quietly.

"Yes," John replied. "But, being honest…" he added and Kanaan glanced up at him. "I would have stopped looking for anyone else eventually." He looked down at the greenery around them as the truth was admitted. "But I would never have stopped looking for her." He wasn't sure if it was the right thing to admit to Kanaan, Teyla's ex, but it was the truth. He looked back at Kanaan feeling odd at revealing the secret and to him of all people.

Kanaan nodded though, as if it had been what he had wanted to hear. Maybe it would help Kanaan to feel better to think that John had been motivated mostly by his affection for Teyla. A thought occurred to him.

"Teyla isn't going to be too impressed with us for this," John said as he blotted his cheek again and rolled his jaw to ease some of the ache.

Kanaan grunted in amusement. "No, she will not." He stood more upright now, the bleeding having stopped from his nose, as long as he held it closed for a while. "But now you are the one whom she will take it out on," he said nasally.

John pulled a worried face, as from the trees some distance away John heard people moving. "John?" Lorne's concerned voice shouted loudest over the others.

"We're over here," John called out in response. John felt his cheek again and looked at Kanaan's wounded face – they weren't going to be able to keep this just between them.

Teyla was going to be pissed.

--------

Kanaan

The deep ache in his chest was lingering on and it had nothing to do with any injuries, unless it was possible to injury one's spirit. Tolim had dressed his and Sheppard's injuries before they had set out to return to the camp. Since the hunting parties frequently worked far from the camp there was always one backpack filled with what Sheppard called First Aid. A lot of the contents of the pack were Earth design now, since the Athosians had been given so much first aid supplies by Atlantis over the years. The camp physician had even studied with the doctors in Atlantis for long periods of time. The dressing over Kanaan's nose was also of Earth design and he was thankful for that, for the sticky tape held it to his face without a bandage. Sheppard had fared with only two vague bruises on his face which did not look like they were going to get any worse. And the one small cut on his cheekbone had already been cleaned up and held closed with Earth sutures. It would be pretty clear to everyone who had won their fight. Who had won everything.

Kanaan shook his head at himself, but it only made his nose hurt more so he held his head still as he walked back with the others towards the camp. He had approached Sheppard on the hunt out of anger. Bitter and twisted by his own loss and guilt at his past decision. He had wanted Sheppard to know how he was to blame for most of it, and Kanaan had wanted an apology for the way Sheppard had moved in on Teyla so quickly. Instead, Kanaan was walking out of the forest feeling worse about him self and annoyingly more respectful of Sheppard. The man had still taken Kanaan's place in Teyla's tent, but Kanaan could not blame the man anymore for his own regrets and issues with Teyla.

He glanced to his right to where Sheppard was walking along. The Earthman looked deeply thoughtful as well, or maybe he was worried about facing Teyla back in the camp. Kanaan felt a little dark amusement at that. But, the smile made his face and nose hurt, so he stopped that as well.

The rest of the hunting party hadn't really said anything about the clear and obvious fact that he and Sheppard had fought. They had made a few comments about Kanaan's good left hook punch and the thickness of Sheppard's forehead as they all stood around and helped with the cleanup. No one had glared at him with the slight exception of Major Lorne who did not look very impressed with him. But, then the Major and Sheppard were good friends, and Kanaan had deceived Lorne in order to speak to Sheppard alone. When Kanaan had discovered that Sheppard would be joining the hunt, he had seen the opportunity to finally confront the man, away from the others. Kanaan knew that had there been anyone else around, that they would have interrupted and he had not wanted that. But, now he felt bad for having deceived Lorne.

The trees were thinning around them, and soon the camp would come into view. The group walked mostly silently, a couple of people would chat about something idly for a while and then silence would return.

Kanaan could hear the stream as they headed down the hillside and soon enough the stream came into view and he saw two of his people there washing their clothes. They looked round clearly surprised to see the hunting group back so soon. They had decided to return to the camp early, as the rest of the group had caught a reasonable amount of game, which was why it had taken them so long to realise that Kanaan had tricked Lorne and that he and Sheppard had disappeared from the line. Also Kanaan needed his nose checked by a physician.

The washers stood and waved, and Kanaan saw the first of many frowns to come cross their faces. He felt their eyes on his nose. He smiled thinly at them and kept on walking. If he had issues with guilt and embarrassment they were now added to as more people saw them on the last stretch to the camp. Someone ahead had called out one of the doctors from the camp and she was walking out from the camp to meet them. Kanaan could only meet her eyes for a moment and he saw that she was trying not to smile. He looked down and away.

"I see it was an eventful hunting trip," she said.

Kanaan nodded and several amused yet supportive hands dropped onto his shoulders as the rest of the hunting party moved away to enter the camp.

The doctor looked from Kanaan to Sheppard, who smiled in return with what appeared to be no embarrassment whatsoever.

"I'm good," Sheppard told her, but Kanaan could not help but feel it as a slight. He looked at Sheppard, who shrugged at him in return, but there was the new strange sense of fellowship Kanaan felt with the man. He knew without asking that Sheppard would not be sharing what had been said between them with anyone else, except perhaps Teyla. Kanaan felt annoyed that he was calming in regards to Sheppard, after all the man was his replacement, yet at the same time that was not really Sheppard's fault he guessed.

Sheppard had revealed enough about his character during the fight for Kanaan to feel that he had misjudged the Earthman somewhat. Sheppard had also implied that his affections for Teyla went deeper than simply to enjoy her bed, and though Kanaan did not wish to think about that, it also strangely made him feel a little better about it all. That and the wrath of Teyla, Sheppard would now have to face – Kanaan would have smiled, but it would only have hurt his nose.

--------  
TBC


	12. Discussions

**Reminder**: This is now an M rated fic. If you don't like that extra element, well you will know which bits to skip without losing the story's flow.

Two Princes

Chapter 12 – Discussions

----------

Kanaan

Tolim had done a good job on aligning his nose before the dressing had been applied, which had pleased the doctor. However, the remembered pain of that experience was not all that pleasing to Kanaan. The doctor announced that it was only a small fracture, and that Colonel Sheppard must have not hit Kanaan all that hard. Kanaan frowned up at her, keeping his opinion to himself.

He was still feeling extremely embarrassed, especially having had to walk through the camp on the way to the healing tent. Everyone had looked concerned for him, but he had also seen a touch of dry amusement in many eyes, as if they had seen this fight coming long before now. He looked at the doctor again as she handed him a cup of water and several of the Earth pain relieving tablets. He swallowed down the pills as carefully as he could, but it still gave him some pain.

The entrance to the tent was pushed open and abruptly Teyla appeared. He instantly felt even more embarrassed, and then regretful as he saw her worried expression. As her gaze landed on him her worried looked shifted to shock.

"Are you alright?" She asked as she moved across the tent towards him.

"Yes, I am fine," he lied.

She looked from him towards the doctor. The other woman moved forward.

"He is fine. He will be uncomfortable for a few days, but it should pass. The bones are not too badly fractured."

Teyla nodded and then her gaze shifted across the tent. "And John?" She asked.

"He fared better," the doctor replied, with what Kanaan sensed as a measured tone. "I believe he has returned to his tent."

Kanaan squashed down his niggling jealousy at hearing of Teyla's concern for Sheppard, for he knew it was to be expected now and he would have to get used to it. He peered back up at her, the sides of the large dressing across his swollen nose, partly blocking his view.

Teyla's expression had turned to annoyance and he wished she was still worrying. She glanced at the doctor, who turned away saying she had some instruments to clean and would be back in a few minutes. The woman left without taking anything with her.

Teyla sighed loudly in the quiet of the healing tent, her arms crossed over her chest.

"I apologise for my behaviour," Kanaan told her.

She was quiet for another long moment and then she relaxed her arms and moved to sit in the chair near his. He looked round at her and saw a softer expression was now mixed with concern. He decided to pre-empt her questions.

"It is over now, Teyla," he informed her gently. "Colonel Sheppard and I have discussed our differences." Her gaze moved to his nose with a raised eyebrow, but Kanaan continued. "There will be no more arguments between us."

She met his eyes and he held her gaze steadily, wishing her to see his honesty, and perhaps a little of his pain. She looked slightly pained herself as she looked away.

"Kanaan, I am sorry that I have caused you pain. That you felt forced to…"

He turned further round towards her. "The issues were between Colonel Sheppard and myself, and they are resolved." She was watching him with a touch of confusion and worry, and he decided that he would explain somewhat. He looked down at his hands, noting the grazed skin over his knuckles. "I saw him leaving your tent late last night."

She let out another sigh, clearly now understanding the origin of much of what had happened.

"I have been feeling very resentful towards Colonel Sheppard," he confessed further. "And seeing him leaving your tent like that–." He glanced up at her eyes again.

She reached out and laid a hand on his elbow. "I am sorry, Kanaan." He nodded in reply. "But, you must understand that my life, and yours, will go on."

He nodded as he reached over and laid his hand over hers for a brief second, before removing his touch. "I do. I just, had not expected to have seen you move forward so soon. And that it confirmed my thoughts before, that Sheppard…has always meant more to you than as just a friend."

She pulled her hand from his elbow slowly and he watched her set her hands on her lap. "Kanaan, nothing has ever happened between John and myself before this now."

He nodded. "I know that, but I guess I always knew that it might happen eventually."

"I am sorry," she whispered.

"And I am sorry about today," Kanaan replied as he gestured vaguely towards his nose.

A smile returned lightly to her face as her attention focused on his nose again. "You promise that there will be no more fighting between you and John?"

"I can promise that I will not behave so foolishly again." Unless Sheppard started another disagreement.

She seemed satisfied with his promise. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

He shrugged. "Nothing much, just a few bruises."

Her eyes narrowed slightly and the touch of annoyance returned as she shook her head. Kanaan once again felt a flash of dark amusement that most of her wrath would now be focused on Sheppard.

-------

John

Lorne hadn't been happy about how Kanaan had lied to him to get John alone. So, it was a weird turn around that found John offering some half-hearted excuses for Kanaan's behaviour. Kanaan had been angry and hadn't been thinking straight and John didn't want Lorne to feel bad about being tricked. It was over, in the sense that there would be no more fighting or arguing, but that didn't make John and Kanaan friends – far from it.

Lorne hadn't looked all that convinced as he left John's side and headed away to his own tent, probably to share what had happened with Fera. Fera would no doubt find it amusing, and that reminded John that Teyla wasn't likely to when she found out. He glanced at the area of camp around him, surprised that she hadn't heard already, but then she was with the kids, so maybe she couldn't get away to kick his ass just yet.

He walked back to his tent, purposefully not hurrying in anyway. He reached his tent without her appearing, and with a touch of relief he closed the tent flap behind him. Now alone he took the time to stretch out his arms and back, really feeling for the bruises. His back ached slightly, but nothing compared to how he had felt in the past after sparring with Ronon, or Teyla for that matter. His jaw ached as did his cheek, but he had taken a look in one of the field mirrors in the well stocked first aid kit Tolim had been carrying, and John was sure that his cheek wouldn't be puffing up any time soon. Still hurt though.

He looked down at his clothes and muttered at the mud and grass stains across his trousers and jacket. His boots were especially muddy, but that was to be expected. He pulled off his boots and set them by the entrance and then pulled off his socks and he rolled one of his ankles testing what felt like a minor sprain. It was fine, no swelling or bruising.

He walked across his tent towards the sleeping area, pulling off his jacket as he moved towards the dividing screen that he had to separate off his sleeping area from the living space.

"John!" Teyla called from behind him and he heard the tent flap be pushed aside. He turned round to face her as he continued to pull off his jacket.

She had a worried, pissed off look to her.

"Hey," he greeted her.

She moved towards him, her eyes moving to his cheek and then quickly looked him up and down before she frowned at him again.

"What happened out there?" She demanded.

John sighed as he moved around the dividing screen with his muddied jacket. She followed along behind him, pursuing him into his sleeping area. He threw the jacket over a stool and reached down to pull his sidearm from its holster.

"I know, what're going to say – it was stupid and idiotic, but it's over now," he said trying to placate her.

"Yes, I saw how it ended," she replied as he checked the sidearm was on safety and unclipped his belt. "I saw Kanaan's nose."

John winced at that. "It's not like he left me much choice," he told her. He opened a cabinet and set his sidearm and knife up on the highest shelf away from where Torren might reach it.

"There is always a choice, John," Teyla responded. "You should not have fought with him."

John looked back round at her with a frown. "It's not like it was my idea," he told her.

"You could have seriously hurt him, John."

He turned back towards her with a twinge of jealousy. "You're taking _his_ side in this?!"

She waved her hands in a dismissive gesture. "There are no sides here."

Now he felt slighted himself. "And here I was thinking you were going to be on my side."

"You were both behaving foolishly," she replied. "Violence is never the answer in resolving differences."

"Maybe you should be explaining that to your ex. He's the one who stalked me through the forest!"

She looked surprised at that and he pushed onwards.

"He's the one who wanted to 'chat' through the situation, whilst he was holding a hunting spear, so I thought I'd listen to what he had to say."

Teyla looked alarmed and shook her head in dismay. "I am sure Kanaan never intended to seriously hurt you, John," she offered.

"Tell that to my cheek," John told her as he pointed towards his bruised cheekbone.

She gave his cheekbone a sympathetic look, and then looked at his hand that was still pointing towards his face. "You threw a few punches of your own," she told him as she indicated the grazed knuckles on his right hand. John hadn't noticed them before now and looked down at his hand, remembering belatedly that when he had punched Kanaan's middle that he had felt the scrape of metal buttons against his knuckles.

"Well, he started it," John replied, falling back on schoolyard rules. He looked up from his knuckles and gave her a slightly sheepish smile.

She sighed and he could see that she wasn't angry anymore. She shook her head at him as she reached for his hand, her thumb passing over the injuries and he could feel as she could that the grazes were slight and already healing up.

"Kanaan, has promised me that there will be no more such incidents between you two."

"You've spoken to him already then?" He asked, surprised at the jealousy again – he was getting like Kanaan.

She rolled her eyes slightly, "I thought you were both in the healing tent, and I saw Kanaan there." John felt a little better at that, pleased to know that she hadn't set out to check on Kanaan first. She fixed her eyes with his again. "And do not change the subject. Promise me, John, that there will be no more 'disagreements' between you and Kanaan," she pushed.

"I was going to," he objected, glad that there was a nice touch of amusement, or perhaps bemusement, between them now. "I promise," he said "I won't start anything."

She lifted an eyebrow at him, clearly seeing through to what he hadn't said: that if Kanaan wanted to start something that was another matter, because John wouldn't just back down. After all he had to defend himself and his woman. He smiled at himself with that thought. She was still holding his hand and he closed his fingers around her hand and pulled her towards him.

He saw the look of pleased surprise across her face for a moment as she moved towards him. He pulled her hand out to his side, so that their bodies met in the middle, and then he cradled her hand up against the side of his chest, wrapped in his hand. He slid his other hand around her waist and she tilted her face up towards his. He saw the quick movement of her tongue to wet her lips before they touched his. Instant heat rushed through him and he set his lips to hers with more force than he had originally intended. She inhaled loudly in surprise against him, and as he pushed his tongue into her mouth the sound turned into a soft murmur of pleasure. It sounded good and he wrapped his arm a little further around her.

This kiss was a lot deeper than those last night and he kept it going, pulling his mouth from hers to press back, encouraging her lips wider and he let go of her hand to cup the back of her neck. She made that soft sound again and he rumbled in the back of his throat in reply. Her mouth was wet and hot against his and abruptly he had no intention of ending this.

He slid both his hands down her back, flattening her against him, enjoying the press of her breasts, belly and hips against him. He inhaled sharply through his nose as he slid his hands further down to her backside and pulled her even closer, allowing her to feel his fast growing arousal.

Her hands were around his neck now, her touch caressing up through his hair, over his neck and across his shoulders. She rubbed herself ever so slightly back against him and he decided that he had waited far too long for this with Teyla. He turned them, hugging her against his body as he continued to kiss her, and he walked her backwards away from the dividing screen towards his bed.

He reached down to her waist and slid his hands under the hem of her top and pulled upwards. She gave no indication in the least that she had any reservations about where this was headed, as she pulled her mouth from his and lifted her arms up for him to pull her top up and off her. He hadn't expected her to be naked under the top, but her breasts were suddenly revealed. Her mouth touched against his again, distracting him momentarily away from the sight of her luscious breasts. He met her tongue and he pulled her back against him, sliding one hand to her naked side to graze the outside of one of her breasts. She pulled back slightly allowing him to cup it fully and she slid her hands under his shirt, pushing it up his chest. She pressed up against his bared chest, her tight nipples against his skin, but it wasn't enough so he pulled his shirt up from where she had pushed it almost up to his neck. He returned his hands to her body as soon as he dropped his shirt to the floor. He wrapped his arms fully around her, for the first time feeling what it was like to properly hold her. He didn't return his mouth to hers but instead set his lips and tongue to her throat, kissing down from under her ear. She made another one of those gorgeous sounds that seemed to go straight to his groin. Her hands were caressing at his back, her nails occasionally adding a sharp thrill.

He slid his hands low again, cupping her backside as he reached the base of her throat with his mouth, and her hands tightened in his hair as she sensed where he was headed. He pulled away from her just enough to be able to bend his head down towards her breasts. She leant back, rising her nipples towards him and he slid one arm behind her to support her. He slid his tongue around one nipple before sucking it into his mouth and her hold on his hair tightened further as she let out a loud gasp of pleasure. He cradled the swell of her in his hand as he licked around the tightly puckered dark nipple. She gasped again in delight and he moved across to the other one.

But, as great as it was to taste her like this, he was no longer fully pressed up against her and so he slid his mouth from her and pulled her back up against his body. As he did so he met her eyes and saw them glazed with pleasure, dark and inviting. He held her against him, feeling the dampness he had left on her nipples against his own chest. She rubbed herself against him enjoying the sensation. He dropped his gaze to her open full lips and pressed his mouth to hers once again.

------

Teyla

She had heard about being swept away in the flow of passion, but though she had thoroughly enjoyed love making in the past, she had never before lost her thoughts to passion like this. She heard herself moan around the kiss, the heat of his slightly hairy chest against her front, against her breasts electrifying. The hard ridge she could feel through the front of his trousers reflected the same intense overwhelming need she felt to lay with him now. She wanted his hands all over her, and she wanted to feel his naked body against hers. Her mouth was practically watering for him as he pulled his mouth from her lips again. She tightened her hold on the back of his neck, urging him closer, to continue with whatever it didn't matter as long as he was touching her, kissing her.

He had pulled back his upper chest from hers again, creating a space of cool air between them that was unacceptable, but then he was once again against her. His fingers slid under the swell of one of her breasts again as his wet hot mouth slid down under her jaw. She dropped her head backwards, her eyes tightly closed as he licked and sucked her throat. His hand massaged her breast, as his other hand was back down on her backside, holding her to him as he rubbed himself against her. She gasped his name, encouraging him and trying to express how good it felt to be so swept away with him. To feel how much he really did want her.

Both of his hands were at her waist then and he was pulling at the ties that held her skirts around her. The long skirt ties were wrapped around her waist several times, and would not part all that easily, but that did not seem to limit him, for as soon as he could one of his hands was sliding down her lower belly under the waistband and he slid his hand between her legs.

She groaned and rubbed herself into his palm, into the warmth of his hot hand. His fingers pulled at her underwear, desperate to get underneath. She rested her head forward now, pressing her forehead against his as he looked down between them. She closed her eyes in delight as his fingertips touched her most sensitive area, and caressed more gently than she would have expected. A powerful frisson of heat and arousal made her shudder. She felt him hesitate slightly, so she tightened her hold on his hair and the back of his neck to reassure him, and he grazed his fingers teasingly against her. She rocked against his hand, aware that she was groaning with the feel of it. Another time she may have felt embarrassed, but right now she did not care. Abrupt release was on the horizon and John was kissing the base of her throat again, working his way upwards this time. By the time he had reached her jaw and swept his lips across to her mouth, she was panting and his fingers were inside her. She could not really return his kiss properly for she was hanging on the precipice of awaiting climax.

He licked into her mouth as he rubbed inside of her and finally the release was upon her and she cried out. Her arms locked around his shoulders she arched her back and dropped her head back once more. He continued his caress and she ground back against him as the wave of pleasure receded far too quickly, heralding that so much more was waiting.

She relaxed her body, loosening her hold around his shoulders and lifted her head back up. She sought out his mouth and he pulled his fingers from her as they kissed. His hands tugged at her waistband and her skirts, which had somehow still remained partly slung around her hips, dropped away to join her underwear on the floor.

He crowded up to her, pushing against her with his body and she moved backwards until she felt the side of his bed against the back of her legs. She pulled her mouth from the enticing way he was pushing his tongue into her mouth and let go of him long enough to orientate herself with the bed behind her and she climbed backwards onto it, laying back across his bed. The sheets were cool against her back as she rested down, her eyes fixed on the sight of John crawling up over her.

His eyes were so dark and intent on her, and the sight of his passion for her made her feel so very powerful and alive. He set one hand and then the other on either side of her head as he knelt over her. She lifted her knees, opening her legs, making sure he was between them. His eyes ran up her body to meet her gaze and then down to her lips. He looked like he had when he had been under the influence of the Sweet Grain treatment; his eyes sparkling yet slightly glazed. His lips were open with his rapid breathing and she licked her lips at the sight of his full lips which she wished to kiss again. She slid her hands around his shoulders, pulling that him down to her and their mouths met again. She tried to deepen the kiss, but he pulled back from her.

He knelt back between her legs and she saw him pulling at the clasp of his trousers. She reached through her open knees to help him. His darkened eyes were roaming over her, perhaps slowing his concentration at getting undressed. She pulled at the Athosian fastening at the front of his trousers and she slipped her hand inside. She wrapped her hand over the length of him straining against the inside of his underwear beneath. He let out a loud groan at her touch. She smiled up at him as he closed his eyes and tilted his head back slightly. She stroked him again and he made the deep satisfied sound again.

She was just getting into a rhythm, questing her fingers to the end of him and circling, when he pulled back. He pushed her hands away as he leant back over her, his mouth back against hers. He shifted around against her as he worked to free himself of his trousers and underwear, but still keeping the kiss going as best he could. Finally she heard the sound of the clothing hitting the floor behind him and she ran her hands down to cup his exposed backside. She squeezed the full round muscular buttocks, moaning a little in need for him. He shifted his mouth back to her throat as between them his hand was once again between her thighs. She let out a delighted sigh at the renewed touch, but wanting more.

"John," she called to him desperately.

He parted her with his damp fingers and she felt the press of his erection against her opening. He pulled his mouth from her throat and leant over her as he rocked slightly, pushing the top of his hard head into her. She groaned at him, the size of him filling her, but not to the point of pain. "Yes," she gasped.

He tensed his backside under her hands and he began to push fully into her. With a low groan of satisfaction he buried himself fully inside her. She shifted under him, settling his weight better against her and he groaned again as she did. Smiling she did it again and he responded by pulling out ever so slightly and pushing back in. She looked up at his face. His smile met hers, but his eyes didn't remain on hers, instead they slipped to her mouth and then down to her chest again. He began a steady rhythm of small thrusts into her, but it was clear to her that he was as close to breaking point as she was.

She folded her ankles around the back of his thighs and urged him deeper as she moved with him. The speed was increasing between them, his hips moving faster and she rocked her pelvis with him, panting his name around gasps of growing tension to the point where she thought no tension or pressure could reach.

"Teyla," he moaned over and over into her ear as he pounded into her, his hands caressing over her, his panting loud and in time with her own. She grasped at his back, digging into him deeply, clawing her nails into his skin. She froze then and as he rocked tightly into her the tension finally crested and broke apart. She screwed her eyes tightly shut, her entire body arching up under him. He kept moving, one of his hands stroking down the back of her hair, supporting her head as she cried out in absolute relief at the waves of heat and intensity pouring up from her groin. The heat swept up through her body, filling her entirely. John's hand tightened in her hair as he thrust forcefully and finally she felt him reach his release. Her body was relaxing from its climax, and she opened her eyes to see the pleasure cross his face before he buried his face into the side of her throat.

His body shuddered under her hands and between her legs. She enjoyed the last few weak thrusts he managed before he shuddered again, moaning in that moment before his tension and pleasure would turn into complete relaxation. She wrapped her legs around him, holding them together and he pressed his groin even tighter against hers. And then his weight was pressing heavily over her as his body juddered once more.

He groaned as she did, the mutual sound so satisfying that she could not help but grin, though she felt too tired to even open her eyes. They lay holding each other as they panted and their hearts thundered in their chests.

She may have slept at this point, for she could not recall much after he moved from over her, his hand sliding over her belly. She opened her eyes after an indeterminate amount of time and sighed with the deep heavy relaxation she felt. John's hand on her belly and one of his knees over her left leg were a nice still weight that spoke of his own relaxation.

She rolled her head towards him to see him dozing right beside her, his body close and angled towards her. She ran her eyes down the full naked length of his body, enjoying the long smooth toned lines of him. She ran her eyes back up him feeling his eyes on her and she reached out to lay her left hand on his chest. Warm textured skin and hair met her fingers and she smoothed her hand over him contentedly. He made a gentle rumbling pleasured sound.

Smiling she looked up to his eyes and they shared a smile, that despite what had just happened between them, had a touch of shyness as well as amazement. His hand circled gently over her stomach and she sighed with delight and closed her eyes again. She could lie here all day. His hand slid across her stomach and down her far side, pulling on her gently encouraging her to roll towards him. She opened her eyes again and smiled at him as she rolled into his arms. He settled on his back, pulling her against his side and she settled herself over his chest. Snuggling against his warmth, running her hand down his chest and stomach then up again, she smiled again. His hand slid up and down her back, the touch slightly sleepy. She could definitely stay like this for a long time. He felt wonderful.

Abruptly she remembered that she was supposed to be elsewhere. She pushed herself up from his chest. "I left Meela alone with the children," she said worriedly or as much as she could when she felt this good.

John blinked his eyes open and looked up at her with an amused smile. "With all of them?"

Teyla began to reluctantly sit up from him, using his chest and thigh as support as she went. "Yes, and they will all need dinner soon," she muttered. As she sat up on the bed, turning to sit along the side, she smiled. "How long have we been in here?" She asked bemusedly.

John groaned as he sat up beside her, his body against hers as he did. He lifted his bare left wrist. "I took my watch off somewhere," he replied, his voice deep. He didn't sound in much of a hurry to move either. She ran her hand over his closest leg, up the thick thigh. She had not noticed how much more toned his body was until she now saw him out of his clothes.

He reached down to the floor and she enjoyed the display of moving musculature of his back, before he sat back up with his watch, turning it round. "It's only been about half an hour," he told her as he dropped the watch onto the bed beside him.

"Really?" She asked surprised, she would have thought considerably more time had passed.

He met her surprised look with an amused rather satisfied look. Her eyes wandered down his wide shoulders to his fully bare chest and lowered, but then stopped herself before she became distracted, and looked back up to his face. Only to find he was very openly admiring her, his arm was around her, his hand stroking her back.

"I need to get back to Meela," she said weakly, and then when she remained enjoying his touch she made herself get up from the bed.

His hand slid away from her back and off her backside as she moved away to stand beside his bed. "I'm sure someone else has been helping her," he said.

She turned to him as she began to quickly sort through the sea of clothing at her feet. She draped John's clothes on the bed and began to pull hers on. She looked at John as she did, hoping he would not feel too resentful for her leaving like this. However, his attention seemed to be far too interested in watching her. He gave her a smug, sparkling gaze in return.

She had gotten on her skirt and underwear and she pulled on her shirt as she leant in back towards him. "Most of the others are all out in the fields and I doubt those returning from the hunt will want to offer to help her." She slid her hand around his neck and kissed him lightly. "I am sorry to leave now."

As she stood back from him, he pulled a look to show he was disappointed, but the entirely relaxed smug look he wore beneath shone through as he looked at her.

"You might want to brush your hair before you go though," he told her smiling up at her.

She reached up to her hair, remembering John's hands running through it, clasping it in his hand. She turned, suppressing the wave of arousal, and she picked up John's brush. He nodded that she could use it, but obviously there would be payment for its use, for he reached for her waist and pulled her towards him as she quickly ran the brush through her hair.

She settled on one of his thighs, sitting across him and she met his light kiss. "I am sorry," she repeated, one arm around his shoulders, the other against the chest.

"For just the leaving part though, right? He asked. It had been delivered with a teasing tone, but she sensed it was a very real question.

She took a breath, allowing all of her pleasure and lingering arousal to show for him. "Yes, for nothing else am I sorry for," she told him.

"Good," he replied bluntly and kissed her quickly again. His hands were lingering around her backside and her thigh, though now it was more a soft caressing touch, rather than to entice her.

She glanced down at the amazing sight of John Sheppard's hand stroking over her thigh and was seriously tempted to leave Meela alone in that tent. She rubbed her cheek against John's and kissed him once more and pulled back from him slowly. Only for him to tighten his hold to keep her close.

"Ah, there's just one thing, Teyla," he said quietly, and now his tone was a little more focused and serious. She settled on his leg again. "I know the Athosian women drink a tea, you know for protection…from getting pregnant," he stumbled.

She smiled at him, running her free hand along his collar bones. "It is alright, John. I take the tea, we will be fine."

He nodded, looking slightly embarrassed despite the situation. "'Cause you know I would have asked sooner, but this," he angled his head towards the bed behind them. "Took me by surprise."

She nodded. "Yes, it did." Though, she had already begun taking the tea again yesterday after ceasing to drink it following her break up with Kanaan. She had suspected that it would be best to begin drinking the herbs soon with John.

"Good," he repeated his eyes sparkling again. "Not that Torren isn't great, but it's a bit soon," he said, only to then catch himself. "Not that I'm saying that I…"

She took pity on him and leant in to kiss him briefly and pulled away from him smiling. "Do not worry, John. I understand what you meant to say."

"Okay," he said with clear relief.

She returned his brush to the side table and located her sandals back by the dividing screen. She stepped over to them and slipped them back on.

"You got Torren with you tonight?" John asked.

She turned to see him standing unselfconsciously naked before her. She smiled at him; both at his question and at the glorious sight of him as he began reaching for his clothes she had laid on the bed. "Yes, he is with me tonight." She would like to keep her time with Torren tonight alone, since she planned to spend tomorrow day and night with John.

"We still on for our picnic tomorrow?" He asked as she turned to leave and she heard his clothes hit the washing basket on the far side of the tent.

"Yes, most definitely," she replied, impressed at his shot across the tent. "I will see you later at dinner then," she confirmed as she rounded the dividing screen to leave.

"I'll head over soon and take Torren off your hands, one less demanding kid to take care of," he offered from behind the screen.

She paused and looked back round to thank him. John had turned, presumably having not noticed she was still looking at him from the screen. He leant into his wardrobe to pull out some clean clothes, giving her a lovely view of his entirely naked rear view.

She smiled with pleasure as she left his tent, only then to remember that she did not wish to advertise to the entire camp what she had been doing with John for the last half an hour.

-------  
TBC


	13. The Picnic

**Part**: 13/14

Two Princes

Chapter 13 – The Picnic

---------

John

It was one of those really nice spring days. There wasn't a single rain cloud in the sky and the sun was warm over the parkland. Okay it wasn't technically a 'park', but as John settled up on his elbows looking down the gentle slop of the short grass covered open space, there wasn't really another word for it. A gentle cool breeze was sliding down the hillside, keeping bare arms cool. The park area was surrounded on all sides with trees, and he guessed there was something to the soil that prevented the trees from having covered this part of the hill. Though the ground was comfortable enough beneath the picnic blanket on which John was stretched out with Teyla lying beside him.

She was dozing as she sunbathed and he had been enjoying the silent sun worship himself. Now though, his mind had woken up and he was on his elbows looking out at the park again. There was another couple further down the slope, though he could only see the tops of their heads. John wasn't sure who they were, or if in fact they were a couple, or simply two friends out catching some rays away from the camp. There had been a few other people moving past earlier whilst John and Teyla had eaten their picnic, but there hadn't been anymore movement around the 'park'. John thought this place would be a nice spot to sit in the evening, perhaps he could persuade Teyla to head up here again soon.

He glanced at her beside him. She was dressed in a really nice cream and golden skirt that he hadn't seen before and he felt a little pleased to think that she had dressed up for the picnic. The skirt's hemline had been pulled up to lie above her knees so that she could catch some sun on her legs. John enjoyed the view. She also had on a cropped top that revealed her belly very nicely, which though already nice and golden naturally now looked a touch darker from the sunbathing. He reached over and gently ran his hand along the patch of skin. Glancing up at her face and saw her smile gently through her relaxation.

He decided not to disturb her as she was clearly still snoozing, so he pulled back his hand and returned to surveying the park. He and Teyla had chosen a nice spot up the slope, overlooked by a large standing stone buried into the earth at an oblique angle. It provided a little bit of shade over their faces. John noticed now how strategically placed the position was; giving them a good view over the entire park, except for the area behind their heads, but then at least they had the stone behind them as a barrier. He smiled at their choice not all that consciously made on his part at least, for he had been too hungry and had been eager to sit and eat. He couldn't really remember which of them had chosen the spot either.

He leant to one side looking back up the slope, around the standing stone, to check out the tree line at the top end of the slope.

He had joked earlier that Kanaan had better not have stalked them up here, but oddly now he was here he had caught himself checking. No, he was sure Kanaan wouldn't, though it had been rather awkward this morning when John had met up with Teyla outside her tent to set off for their walk and picnic. She had emerged from her tent with Torren, from whom John had received a good morning hug, as Kanaan had appeared to collect the boy from Teyla. Teyla had told Kanaan that she and John were going for a walk for the morning, and then had remembered something of Torren's inside the tent. That had left John and Kanaan alone outside. It had been a little weird.

Torren had been chattering away to himself about something as he wandered around Kanaan and John's knees. John hadn't been able to stop himself from staring at Kanaan's bruised nose and face. The two men nodded at each other politely, a whole wealth of silent tensions and issues hanging silently between them. Fortunately Teyla had returned quickly enough and Kanaan had left with a surprisingly friendly smile. As they had walked away John had joked about Kanaan following them, more to tease Teyla than anything else. Now though, he felt a little cautious.

He really didn't think Kanaan would follow them, but perhaps it was having been so successfully snuck up on in the forest yesterday that had his military trained mind concerned. Maybe he was slipping, or maybe he just hadn't expected any trouble like that in his new home.

"He will not have followed us," Teyla said with an amused tone, surprising him.

He returned to his former position and looked down at her through his sunglasses.

"Can't be too sure," John replied to her with a smile. She had her eyes closed and was smiling widely. A thought occurred to John. "You got any more ex's in the camp I should be watching out for?"

She grinned, her eyes still shut as the sunlight glowed over her. "I did not date, as you call it, that much. Being a leader of your people does not always lead to having the best romantic relationships with anyone." John inclined his head at that point. "I have a couple of ex's from other worlds. Those who were in the camp are mostly gone now." John didn't have to ask where – the Wraith or even Michael had no doubt killed them. It was a sobering reminder of the former Athosian life.

"Mostly?" He asked realising what she had said.

He watched her face closely and saw an amused expression cross her features as she rolled her head towards him and opened her eyes slightly against the sunlight. "I dated Hakon for awhile when I was younger."

"Hakon?" John asked turning onto his side, still up on one elbow to look down at her. "The Hakon here?" She nodded. Hakon was a tall strong man, quiet but he had that Halling kind of wisdom to him. Hakon was one of those people who everyone liked and who could be relied on at all times. John had noticed Teyla was good friends with the man, but he hadn't seen any hint of a past between them.

"How long did you date him for?" John asked.

"A year or so," she replied.

"A year?" John was surprised.

She reached over and rested one of her hands on his arm as she smiled. "We were very young, barely into adulthood."

"Teenage sweethearts, great," John muttered. "You two get on alright now though."

She smiled. "Yes, we both grew apart naturally really and we actually have a close friendship now." He gave her a pretend suspicious look. She chuckled lightly. "Hakon is married remember, John."

"Yes," he replied looking off down the slope. "To that sweet little blonde with the…" She batted him on the arm in response to his teasing.

"Sala is a lovely woman, who has brought much to our community," Teyla told him.

"She's not Athosian?"

"No, she originally came from a world named Myas. She and Hakon married perhaps ten years ago."

He pondered that for a few minutes. "I didn't know she wasn't Athosian. Are there any others?"

"Not any left in the camp now, other than you and Evan. Though, I would say that perhaps a third of the camp have a non Athosian grandparent somewhere in their family."

John hadn't realised that the Athosians were so welcoming of outside marriages, but then there had never been a massive number of Athosians. It would make sense that there were marriages with others outside their world, to keep the gene pool strong if nothing else. He wondered if that was why the Athosians particularly had such strong trading partners. It all oddly made him feel better about Evan and him being here and perhaps why they had been so easily assimilated into the camp. The Athosians were very friendly polite people, but John had always felt a little guilty about just turning up at their doorstep so to speak.

Teyla was quiet again and John studied her through his dark lens, enjoying the glistening of her skin in the warmth. They would have to find some shade soon, having been lying out here a while, and they would need to head back in an hour or so.

"So, no other ex's likely to gang up with Kanaan and track me down in the forest?" He teased.

"I am sure that you would be able to handle yourself if that were ever to occur," she replied with a grin, her eyes still closed.

He reached forward and ran his hand back across her bare middle. It was still a little weird to be free to touch her like this and he had discovered that he really liked touching her. As they had walked out of the camp together this morning, he had reached for her hand, interlinking their fingers together. She had smiled at that, walking close to him, her other hand stroking up and down his forearm as they had walked and talked. He slid his hand across her belly again now, and reflected that he hadn't really seen the Athosians holding hands before. They all had the forehead touching thing, which he had decided was the equivalent of a respectful hug for them, or maybe a kiss on the cheek. He and Evan had only received the forehead thing on special occasions when the Athosians had their festivals and everyone 'hugged' that way as part of the rituals. The Athosians were very honest and open people, but touching and hugging between close friends and lovers in public didn't seem to happen that much that he could recall. Teyla had appeared very happy to hold his hand though, all the way up through the forest on their long walk to the park.

"Maybe I should talk with Sala and Lorne, to get some tips about dating an Athosian," he said. "You know about customs I should be aware of. Things you guys do, or don't do," he added carefully, hoping to catch her interest. It worked; for she rolled her head towards him and she blinked open her sleepy eyes.

"Such as?"

He stayed away from the more sexy stuff for now. "Like, I don't remember seeing Athosians holding hands that much, or kissing in public."

She considered that. He realised that her only real experience of Earth culture was through Atlantis, and that had been through the tinted glasses of the military. "Lovers kiss freely in front of others on Earth?" she asked.

John enjoyed her use of that term. "Not going at it or anything, but you regularly see couples sharing a quick kiss when they're out together. I can't remember seeing that in the camp before."

She made an interested tone, and rolled onto her side to face him, her head set up on his hand. "I suppose I had not considered that. Of course Athosians share those things, but it tends to be in private."

"Even holding hands?" he asked.

She considered that, "Not as much."

"You don't mind me holding your hand, do you?" He asked. He hadn't realised that these little details were so important, until you were dating someone from an entirely different world. Though, he supposed people dating from different cultures back on Earth might have similar discussions.

She smiled as she reached for his hand and slipped her fingers through his. "Not at all." He grinned now, enjoying the warmth of her hand in his. "After all we should try to uphold your Earth customs," she added. He chuckled at that, playing his thumb across her palm to tickle her.

"So, that's the holding hands in public part. How do you feel about kissing in a park?" He asked.

Her smile widened and she shifted herself closer to him. "If it is an Earth custom…"

He met her mouth, kissing her gently. She pulled back though and set her fingers to his sunglasses, which he pulled off and tucked away into the picnic bag near their heads, and then turned his attentions to kissing Teyla. He pushed the customs a little by sliding his hand up her bare thigh and pulling her slightly closer, but she didn't seem to mind in the least.

-------

Lorne

It was a stunning day and he felt good about the world. He had managed to walk through the slowly growing Sweet Grain fields without feeling nauseous with the memories of The Treatment. Fera had joined him for the walk, and now they were headed up the sloped path to the camp. She had her hand linked through the back of his belt as she followed along behind him, idly using him to assist herself up the path. The sun was warm today and the first touches of a bright hot summer were in the air. Lorne paused along the path and looked out at the fields of growing plants. Fera paused behind him, quietly enjoying the view along with him.

He took a breath of the air. Regardless to how much time really had passed in Earth terms since he and John had arrived her, by this world's standards they had been here a year now, perhaps a little longer. He wasn't sure why it felt such an important thing, but it did nonetheless.

"What is it, Evan?" Fera asked softly from his right, her hand having slid from the back of his belt, to his back. She must have sensed the change in his mood.

He turned to look at her. She was very beautiful woman; her figure full and curvy and she had a wonderfully positive view of the universe. He smiled at her and tried not to feel the sadness in his heart. He had a good home here now, so why was this bothering him.

"Just thinking of when John and I got here. It's been at least a year now," he said carefully. He didn't want her to think that he had regrets, for he enjoyed her company above all things in this new life.

She smiled softly, clearly taking no offence and only caring about his feelings. "That is to be expected, my love," she said with her rich voice. "It is only by respecting where we have come from that we can thoroughly enjoy where we are now, and where it will take us."

He nodded at her words and smiled as he slipped his arm around her back, the two of them holding each other. "I like where I am now," he told her.

She smiled widely at him. "Good. Perhaps though we should celebrate your Earth roots a little more. Starting with that particular Earth bedroom custom you have shared with me." Her tone was as seductive as her words as she slipped past him, her hand dragging around his waist as she passed.

He turned with her, "I do like to share Earth culture as much as possible," he replied as he trailed after her.

This time he was the one to follow along behind her. There was enough room on the path for three to walk shoulder to shoulder, but he liked the view from here. Fera looked over her shoulder a couple of times to make sure he was still close.

The path crested the rise and the camp came fully into view. Lorne smiled at the sight: home. There had been some discussion last night on whether to move the camp after the summer heat. Most likely across to another hillside that overlooked the fields. Lorne quite liked the idea and he thought that he would ask Fera if she wouldn't mind him pitching his tent to hers in the new camp. He had noticed that couples in the camp didn't tend to move into one single ten together, but instead pitched their tents beside the other, joining them into one large tent. It was especially useful when there were children. Lorne wondered if Fera would like to do that.

Fera paused ahead of him and he stopped as well, making sure to make contact with her as he did. She nodded her head off to the right and he followed her direction looking into the trees that led up towards the stream. Heading down the hillside under the shade of the trees walked John and Teyla. They looked happy and he couldn't help but notice that they were holding hands. Lorne smiled at the sight.

"Finally," he muttered and Fera chuckled before reaching for his hand and pulling him on towards home.

The Athosian camp had been his and John's sanctuary in this galaxy, but it was truly a home now. With one last smiling look towards the new happy couple disappearing into the tents, Lorne returning his attention to his love.

------

Teyla

She had spent a wonderful morning with John, the two of them taking great enjoyment in the other. It was the first time they had been able to share since what had happened between them yesterday, since the evening had been spent in the company of the rest of the camp as the possibility of moving the camp had been discussed over dinner. Then Torren had been with them, though she did not regret that time spent. This morning had been their first time to begin to get to know each other as more than friends.

She had been a little nervous this morning before she met up with him, hoping that now the initial passion between them had been experienced that he would still be as interested in being with her. Of course those worries disappeared the moment he had appeared and she had remembered that they were foolish – they were now lovers, where before they had been just friends. It was something to be celebrated not feared.

They had set off into the forest and he had immediately touched his hand to hers, sliding his fingers against hers and her heart had melted. She had feared that John would be unwilling to show too much affection, but that did not appear to be a problem. He had not even attempted to conceal his enjoyment all morning. He had touched her back, arms and belly repeatedly and she had returned the touches. Their friendship was as strong as before, and was now enhanced with the newly revealed sexual attraction between them. She had not realised how attracted to her he had been until now. The gentle flirting they had shared before, when they had expertly danced around trespassing over the line from friendship, now became very real. He flirted continuously with her this morning, and added to his teasing touches she was feeling very feminine and aroused.

Once they had returned to the camp she led him through the tents towards hers. She had offered him some tea, which he had eagerly accepted, after which he had explained to her the Earth meaning of inviting someone 'in for coffee'. She had not responded to that, only looked interested and smiled, leaving him to wonder about how she had meant the invitation. She had no plans this afternoon and intended to let the day play out as it wished with him.

They reached her tent and she finally released his hand as she moved off towards the kettle. As he unpacked the picnic bag, dropping the empty food containers in a bowl of water to soak, she prepared them a pot of tea. They talked about the plans to move the camp, as both of them had volunteered to help scout out the best alternate locations. The kettle reached its boil, the whistle singing out and she poured out the hot water, stirring in the roots and leaves. It was one of her favourite blends and she poured out a cup for John. He took it with a thank you and moved away across the tent towards the table. She sipped her tea with enjoyment and turned round to see John was standing by her table. He had his back to her and he was carefully folding up the fabric she had left lying over the surface.

"I forgot to put that away," she commented as she walked across to join him.

"For Torren?" He asked as he finished folding up the main piece of material and he tossed it lightly down towards the far end of the table. She set her tea down and helped to clear up the smaller pieces of fabric she had already cut out.

"Yes, he is growing so fast I can hardly keep up."

"I like your skirt," he said as he looked down at her.

"Thank you," she replied as she finished clearing the table.

"Is it new?" He asked his sparkling eyes. She could not remember having been so enticed by someone just looking at her before.

She smiled up at him. "I made it a while ago, but I have not worn it before."

He nodded like it was confirming something for him. He remained standing by the end of the table, not moving towards a chair to sit down. She worried for a moment that he was not planning to stay after all.

"Are you doing anything this afternoon?" He asked.

"No, I have kept it free," she told him.

"Great," he said with feeling and he reached for her.

She took her hand away from her teacup where it stood on the corner of the table top and stepped into his embrace. He kissed her gently, but she was feeling ready for a lot more. She entwined her arms around his shoulders, the entire morning's flirting and soft touches having built a strong fire inside of her. He pulled his mouth from hers.

"Then, I'd like to suggest something," he uttered. She thought she already knew what it might be. "You, me and this table," he explained.

She glanced down at the table by their side and smiled. Now she understood why he had been clearing the surface so thoroughly.

"And something I've been thinking about all morning," he added as he set his lips to hers again. This kiss was full of passion now and she pressed herself close to him. He slid one of his arms around her back and then slid it down under her backside and then he was lifting her. She broke the kiss and smiled in delight at his easy strength as he turned and sat her down on the end of the table.

After he had carefully set both the tea cups on a nearby stool, he turned his attention to helping her remove her sandals.

"And what might that be?" She asked, excited as he reached for her waist and his hands slipped around to the back of her skirt. His fingers quickly undid the clasp which she suspected he had been studying to so quickly understand how to release it.

"It's something very popular on Earth," he told her as he kissed her neck briefly before he looked down to pull her skirt from her hips. She lifted one hip and then the other to help him free her of the fabric and her underwear beneath. She glanced towards the tent entrance flap.

"Don't worry, I've tied it shut," he told her with a smile as he leant back in towards her.

She reached for the front of his shirt, grasping the material to pull it up and reveal his upper body. He pulled his shirt off and she reached down to free herself of hers, her body more than ready for his attention. But, though he slid his hands over her breasts and bare sides he didn't lean back towards her.

"It's something involving kissing," he told her softly and she remembered that he had been talking about something he wanted to do. She nodded, her hands sliding along the strong lines of his shoulders and chest. His hands dropped to her bare hips and he pulled her closer to the edge of the table and she parted her legs around him, but once again he pulled away. He turned and she watched him pull a chair round behind him and then he sat down, between her legs and suddenly she had an idea of what he intended.

Breathing heavily she watched as he slid his hands up her thighs and he looked up at her. "This okay?" He asked.

"Yes," she whispered to him and as he set his mouth to the inside of one of her thighs she sighed in delight. She reached for him, sliding her fingers through his spiky hair as he moved up her thigh, leaning in towards the junction of her legs. His hands stroked back and forth along the outside of her legs, and she widened them anticipating his final touch.

He looked up at her again as he slid one hand around her leg to touch her intimately. "Lay back, Teyla," he told her softly.

She leant back onto one hand, but she kept her gaze on him as he set his mouth to her core. The sensation was amazing and she tightened her hand in his hair as she gasped in delight.

"Teyla," he groaned and she finally shifted herself to lie back along the table.

The tent ceiling above her faded out of focus as all her senses turned entirely to John between her legs. His hands wandered over her, and she met one of his hands with hers, grasping it tightly. He reached up further, though he didn't halt his kiss, and his strong hand slid around one of her breasts, massaging and heightening her arousal even further. Running her hand down the long length of his muscular arm she grazed her nails against the thick forearm.

She tried to keep her moans contained, knowing that there would be people moving around the camp outside, but it was difficult and so she lifted her free hand to her mouth. She bit the backs of her own fingers to keep in the sounds of pleasure and suddenly she was flying again. She dug her nails into his arm as she grasped the side of the table with her other hand, holding on as she rode out the waves that arched her body.

As the relaxation followed she let go of the table and reached down to John's head again. She ran her fingers through the locks, as he kissed and nuzzled against her inner thighs. She lay heavily on the table, her head far too heavy to move and she murmured with pleasure. She heard him chuckle from between her legs and she felt him move away, his hands sliding down her thighs. She heard the chair move and she opened her eyes to see him stand up. He reached over her and slid his hands up her body.

"Do your people have that custom as well?" He asked quietly as he leant over her, sliding his hands under her back.

She slowly sat up, her body beautifully satisfied and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Not frequently," she told him.

His hands were on his trousers and she edged herself right to the edge of the table and set her mouth to his jaw, over the sharp defined edge to his throat. He was breathing faster than normal, but that was to be expected and enjoyed. His trousers hit the floor and she closed her knees around his bared hips. His hands caressed back along her outer thighs to her hips as she reached between them and guided him to her.

He pushed slowly into her and they both sighed with the completion as he sat snugly inside her. Deep affection filled her heart and she looked up to his face to see him watching her closely, his eyes hooded. She reached up and stroked her hand across his cheek and along his jaw. He leant in and kissed her, but she controlled the pace, keeping it slow and she let herself really enjoy it. Through it she hoped to communicate all that she felt for him. He thrust small movements occasionally as the kiss continued, his hands moving up and down her back. It was a very sexy slow kiss.

She pulled her lips from his, pulling gently on his full lower lip as she did. He squeezed her backside in response. She licked her lips then rested forward, settling into his embrace. His arms closed around her and she set her cheek to his shoulder, allowing herself to feel the moment and the affection in her heart. He didn't seem to mind. One of his hands ran up her spine to her neck and stayed there, the heat of his forearm lying along her spine was most satisfying. She wanted to say words to him that she was not sure he would want to hear yet, so she contented herself with this.

His hips moved slightly again, his other hand roaming her backside, hip and thigh in a slow yet eager caress. The moment satisfied her, but the physical desire was building inside her again, and so she kissed his neck and sat back in his embrace. His eyes met hers immediately and she smiled up at him, hoping he had not minded the break in the flow. His eyes searched hers though he smiled. She smiled again she hoped reassuringly for him and ran one of her hands down over his chest, pausing briefly over his heart. His hands slid to her hips and he thrust himself back to the deepest he could go into her. She rolled her hips in delight and he smiled.

"Bed?" He asked.

She nodded as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and his hands slid under her backside. She locked her legs around his back as he lifted her once again and carried her to her bed.

--------

John

He woke from his light doze. His body was warm, his body satisfied. He could feel the layer of sweat across his skin, but that was hardly surprising considering they had been in this bed for who knew how long. They had managed two more rounds before they had finally spooned up and slept properly.

He slid his hand over her soft hip, her round backside against his groin. He felt really good, and not just from all the great sex, but that it had been with Teyla. She had responded just as he could have prayed and it seemed she had the same power over him. He had stroked over every inch of her, desperately wanting to be able to know all of her. He had kissed her back, down her spine, over her buttocks, her thighs, behind her knees and the instep of her feet. Every part of her aroused him and he had been allowed to explore all of her. She had lain happily under his care, no question, no nervousness or embarrassment. He had been allowed to kiss her between her legs, her nipples, her throat, lick around her ears, gently bite her neck and bury himself deeply into her over and over again. Her legs had been around his hips, his legs, his waist and his shoulders.

Her hands had caressed over him constantly as well, through his hair, squeezing his neck, his shoulder blades and his sides. Her fingers had teased his lower back, tightened around his backside and had gripped his thighs. She had tasted him intimately, cupped him and stroked him. She had run her tongue up his stomach, around his nipples and had bitten his shoulder, neck and arms. He could feel her scratches across his back and he lifted one arm to see the shadow of a love bite on his bicep. She had been so close that she had turned her mouth to his arm by her head and latched onto him. Her teeth had been blunt edges around the sting to his skin and he had climaxed to the sight of her teeth on his skin, her eyes on him hotly.

She had been the Teyla he had always known, but something so much more now – a passionate woman contented with her body and excited by his. As he had kissed her, held her and pushed her to the point of near screams of pleasure he had smiled. He had known they were going to be real good together. They did everything great together – be it talking, working, protecting each others backs, and now they could add making out and fantastic sex to the list. He had told her that at one point and she had laughed in delight pulling him close, and he had settled against her breast, his hands wandering over her.

He looked at the length of her back laying before him and slid his hand up from her hip, along her spine then up to her side and down again. She sighed in her sleep and he smiled. He leant forward and rested his nose and lips against her shoulder, inhaling her scent, mixed with his. The tent felt close, dark and intimate around them and he had no inclination for this to ever end. He circled his hand over her hip once again, squeezing ever so lightly. She felt real good.

But, she needed to sleep and he felt very happy to just lie here for a while. The faint light around the tent entrance in the distance implied it was quite late in the afternoon. He glanced over her shoulder to the bedside table on which sat his watch. He tilted his head to read the display and saw that he had been right; they had been in here for hours. It was almost dinner time.

About to look away from the watch he noticed the coiled chain near it. Teyla had reminded him this morning that she still had his dog tags, but he had forgotten. They sat now on her bedside table. He stared at them, his mood abruptly changing.

He had worn those tags, or ones very much like them, since he had joined the Airforce. Every hour he had been on duty he had worn them and when he had been in Atlantis he had worn them all day, every day, only taking them off to shower or when he went to bed. They had been a staple part of his military life, and he realised he hadn't missed them over the past day and a half. When he had given them to Teyla before he and Lorne had headed into that Wraith ship he had missed them. He had felt their absence under his shirt, aware that it had been the first time he had gone into battle without their familiar weight against his chest. But, then somehow he had forgotten them.

As he stared at them through the reduced light in the tent he realised that he was never going home. That Earth and the Airforce were gone now. It was a heavy weight that settled in his heart, yet at the same time it had a clarity to it that was honest.

He had waited for rescue, though he had known it would be unlikely, yet he had hoped. He had tried not to miss Earth and Atlantis too much, whilst at the same time trying not to accept and enjoy the camp too much in case rescue did arrive. But, time had passed and he had started to feel invested in the camp and its people. And Teyla especially, because he had always known how much of an emotional hold she had on him. Even from that first meeting and she had been taken by the Wraith. Though he had desperately wanted to save Sumner and the others taken from the team, he had also wanted desperately to save Teyla. He had barely known her, but she had immediately impacted upon him her natural nobility and honesty. He hadn't wanted to leave her to her fate when he could do something to help save her and her people.

He had valued her friendship all these years, but that attraction had also always been there in the background. Being trapped in this galaxy had been difficult, but he had secretly liked that he at least could be with her. It had felt like an excuse almost. Then she and Kanaan had split up and something had shouted that now was his time and his opportunity. But, that emotional investment would have to be made, and despite years of desperately trying not to get in that kind of position he was here. Invested. He glanced away from the tags down to her side along which his hand rested.

If Rodney and Ronon arrived tomorrow with a one way ticket back to Earth John wasn't so sure he would leave anymore. In fact he knew he wouldn't. Earth was gone, because she was here. The realisation was strangely painful.

He glanced back to his tags.

Perhaps she would want to go to Earth, but what about Torren and Kanaan. It wouldn't be fair to Kanaan to take his kid away from him. So, Teyla would want to stay and so John would stay here. Home was now here.

He looked up at the tent around him, aware that it had darkened further as he had been lying here thinking. He had lived as an Athosian for perhaps over a year now and as he looked up at the strong material that comprised the ceiling he knew that he could live here permanently. He didn't really need movies, music and choppers, though having a Jumper lessened that particular sting! He didn't really need those things because he would have a life here.

He looked out past the end of the bed to the living space beyond. He could pitch his tent beside hers to make one large tent. Torren could have a much larger space for himself. John tried to picture that life in his mind. He really liked the idea of being around Torren even more and perhaps…maybe he and Teyla could have a kid together, maybe more? He had never really thought he would turn out to be a family man, especially after the end of his marriage to Nancy. But, now having spent so much time taking care of Torren he had discovered a part of him really would like to be a dad. Teyla was a great mom to Torren and John remembered vividly how she had looked when she had been pregnant with Torren. She could be pregnant with his child. A strong possessive sensation passed through him. Sure, it was probably from the hormones still swimming big time through his system from all the sex, but he really liked the idea of waking up beside Teyla like this every morning. And they could have a tent that was 'theirs', with little ones running around getting into trouble.

Without really trying he was invested – invested in Teyla and this image of a possible future now. Sure, it might change tomorrow, or it could all become real. The fact was that this was now home and if that was the case then he was going to be the best he could be. He would work hard at being a farmer, a lover and father. Maybe then…if he invested his heart it would finally start to heal.

She sighed again, rolling back against him as she gradually rose up from her dreams. He slid his arm around her, welcoming her back. His fingers slid around her side and over her belly – perhaps there really were future children for them. A swell of emotion pushed up from his own belly. He hadn't ever thought that he would have a chance at a 'normal' life, that he might be allowed a family and someone to love him. Someone for him to love and want to be with.

She shifted in the bed, lying on her back under his arm and he looked up at her face. She smiled up at him as her eyes drifted closed again.

"I love you, Teyla," he told her softly.

Her eyes snapped open and she looked up at him with a soft surprised expression. She didn't smile, she didn't grin, instead she looked straight into his eyes and he looked right back at her. Her fingers touched against his jaw, cupping his cheek and then she smiled.

"I love you, John," she whispered. "And I always will."

--------  
TBC


	14. The Stars

**Part**: 14/14

Two Princes

Chapter 14 – The Stars

------

Halling

It was dark around the camp, but overhead the stars were sparkling bright tonight. He paused and looked up at them glittering so far away, yet so brightly. He smiled and whispered a quiet prayer of thanks in the chilled air, his breath misting, carrying his words upwards to the Ancestors. He smiled again at his thoughts and returned his attention to clearing away his work. Everything completed he walked quietly back towards the tents.

Voices caught on the edge of his hearing and he stopped, looking round for who would still be up this late. Perhaps others were admiring the stars above as well. He moved towards the area overlooking the vast fields below and he saw shadows sat down against a log just down the slope. He moved forward a little further, wondering if they would like some tea to keep them warm, but he paused, for he could now make out their voices. Teyla and John.

Halling moved a little further forward into the starlight and looked down towards the two wrapped up in a blanket. Teyla was sat within John's arm, the two of them keeping each other warm. He smiled and then grinned at his discovery – finally they had decided to acknowledge what could be between them.

The discovery warmed his heart, for he had known of Teyla's affections for John for a long time, though she had never openly said as much, Halling knew her too well. Halling had also seen the pained looks John had been incapable of hiding when he had seen Teyla with Kanaan. It pleased Halling that finally these two, who seemed so well suited, had found one another. It would be an excellent match he felt.

Moving quietly as possible he moved away from the slope and headed back into the camp, smiling as he went. It had not been John's choice to remain in this galaxy, but perhaps the Ancestors had seen fit to keep him here, for perhaps though he had wished to return to Earth, his heart had in fact been here. Halling hoped that John's heart would be happy now, and that whatever wishes he sent up to the stars above that the Ancestors would see fit to grant them to him. For it seemed that it was a time for wishes to be granted.

--------

Earth

Rodney sighed heavily as he stared up at the stars high above the backyard. "I wonder if they really are out there," he said and not for the first time this evening.

"They made it, McKay," Ronon muttered around the remains of the barbeque he was munching down.

Rodney looked at his friend sat beside him out in the night air. "Isn't that cold by now?"

"Still tastes fine," Ronon replied with a smile.

"It's not like there aren't plenty of leftovers, Rodney," Jennifer pointed out from Rodney's other side. He turned and looked at her sat on his left.

"There won't be once he's finished with them," he replied. She just smiled in response and returned her attention to gazing up at the stars.

It had been her idea initially to remember the one year anniversary since John and Lorne had been lost. Then Ronon had suggested a meal and somehow it had turned into a barbeque in Rodney and Jennifer's backyard. Most of the Daedalus' former crew had turned up as well as pretty much everyone who had been stationed in Atlantis who had been able to get here. It had been a seriously full house and garden as everyone stood around eating and catching up.

There had been several speeches, all along the same vein; that everyone hoped the two lost men were alive and well in Pegasus. Rodney was convinced that they were, at least his calculations seemed to suggest there had been enough time between the Gate deactivating and the expected impact time of the Daedalus. He had gone over the math loads of times and was sure that it would have left John and Lorne just enough time to Gate off world to somewhere in Pegasus, which meant that they would be okay.

Rodney had given a short lecture on his latest power supply research, for though the SGC and IOA had refused another trip back to Pegasus, they had given Rodney permission to create a power source that would enable a Gate to be dialled to Pegasus. No one would be able to get back here, but at least contact could be made. Then maybe there would be some answers. Rodney just hoped they were happy answers.

"Even if we can dial up Pegasus, there's no way to know exactly where they may be," Rodney said out loud. The others were used to his worries, which he voiced frequently, for he needed to share them with someone. "Or if they're alive."

"They're alive," Ronon repeated as he finally set down his plate and sat back in his chair beside Rodney.

"Even if they survived the destruction of the Super Base, who knows what kind of trouble Sheppard's probably gotten himself into since then? You know what he's like. And we can't be sure that the Wraith are really all gone. What if he and Lorne are out there battling for their lives and we never know about it?"

Jennifer's hand dropped onto his arm, her touch soothing as always. "Well, maybe soon we will have some answers when you can make your intergalactic phone call," she said with her soft supportive voice.

He looked to her beside him, her face clear in the starlight. "Even if it works we'll probably only have enough power to dial one gate address. We can't know for sure where they'll be." He had already drawn up a list of addresses he thought John might have remembered and knew to be safe.

"They'll be with Teyla and her people," Ronon stated as if there was no question.

"Or at least Teyla will know how to get in contact with them if not," Rodney considered, though they had already had this conversation many times over the past year. A new touch of a smile warmed Rodney. "At least we'll get to talk to Teyla again."

Ronon nodded beside him and smiled before he too looked up towards the stars. Rodney looked to Jennifer, whose hand had slipped into his. "Maybe we could put together a care package for her as well as John and Lorne. We could send something for Torren."

"I think that sounds a wonderful idea," Jennifer replied and she squeezed his hand.

Rodney began to run through ideas on what he could include for Teyla. He had already come up with a list of things to send through to John, and he knew Lorne's friends had come up with a similar list for him. "We should send her some popcorn," he considered.

"We could send some medical supplies for her and her people," Carson announced as he stepped out through the back door of the house. He set down the tray of hot drinks on a small table and began handing out the mugs.

"Maybe some of those new antivirals we've developed," Jennifer suggested.

"Aye, that would be a good idea," Carson agreed as he sat down in the spare chair beside Ronon. "Will you look at those stars – makes you feel like you could see right to Pegasus from here."

Rodney scoffed. "You know you can't right though…"

"Yes, Rodney, I know that," Carson replied and the others sniggered.

Rodney returned his attention to the dome of perfectly bright stars above. "I wonder where they are," he muttered.

"Probably getting into trouble if I know those two," Carson said with amusement.

"Well maybe in a few months we'll be able to find out," Jennifer said, her hand squeezing Rodney's again.

"Yeah, maybe," Rodney said up into the chilled air, up towards the stars sparkling overhead. "I wonder what they've been up to."

--------  
**THE** **END**

**NB** – now before you all start shouting at me – this fic was always about the Two Princes and resolving that. Maybe John will live his life happily in the Pegasus galaxy. Maybe the Wraith will return. Will the intergalactic phone call work? Who knows, but that's life and there's always time for sequels. Thank you all for your reviews throughout this fic and I leave you to go look up to the stars and hope for a future as yet unwritten. Wedjatqi XXX


End file.
